Over the past few years I have traveled and spoken to clients and groups in many industries and  one thing keeps getting interchanged as if it is the same and it really isn’t. I hear people talk about their SEO efforts to drive traffic to their websites and they start rattling off their Google AdWords stats or their banner ad placements.

Hey guys…if you are paying for a click…it isn’t SEO.  It’s SEM…Search Engine Marketing.  If you are placing banner ads then it is simply an advertising placement.  SEO is about optimizing your site…it is about using the right words in your text, setting up good descriptions for pages and images, it’s about backend keywords and phrases that the little search engine bot can sniff out and index improving your organic ranking.

Sure SEO is about building traffic to your website just like SEM but you are trying to get the most out of that free traffic floating around out the on the Internet.  One thing many people either forget about or don’t know is that a key component of your organic ranking is in fact the traffic your site gets.  Want to know the best way to skew that stat in your favor?  You guessed it…SEM.

You see the more traffic you get from the more keywords people use the more important your site looks to search engines.  They like all kinds of traffic…direct, referral and search engines so the more you can spread out your sources the better you will fare when those results are generated.

So not a big deal…just trying to help you get your terminology straightened out…and by the way, we happen to have one of the best all around traffic driving programs available…check it out, it’s called Surf-N-Fusion.

We all have one right?  A smart phone, tablet or whatever else the latest and greatest technology there is out there.  Have you stopped to think about how you use this device?  How your customers use their devices?  Is your web presence and online marketing plan aware of these opportunities?

They should be.  If they aren’t then you are missing tremendous opportunities to reach your customers where they are most comfortable.  People are searching more and more on their smart phones and tablets.  Here are some numbers for you:

• 80% of humans own a mobile phone
• there are 91.4 million smartphones in the US alone
• 9 out of 10 smartphone users use their phone on a daily basis
• The most popular smartphone activity is texting, followed by internet browsing and playing games.

Does that make you want to focus some efforts on these devices so that your brand is in front of users?  So how do you do it.

First thing you need to do is make sure that your website is formatted to fit the screens of users on the go.  If you do not have a mobile friendly version of your website then you need to move this to the top of your list.  Mobile users are impatient and if your site is not formatted for them they will leave before your home page finishes loading!

After your site is in order then you need to make sure that your online efforts have some focus on mobile users.  If you are placing on Google AdWords alone you might want to consider spreading some love over to Yahoo since that is the default search feature on all iPhones.  You might also want to explore some options for in-app advertising through Android and iOS devices.  All of these options will help make sure that your brand is staying in front of users as they are going about their day.

Our Surf-N-Fusion program includes advertising networks focuses on mobile platforms.  That means dedicated search engine marketing for mobile users as well as in-app advertising.  On our program we expand it a step further to include specialized placements on GPS devices and tablets along with smart phones.  We can even target your entire Surf-N-Fusion program to the mobile user…check out Surf Mobile!

While looking at our clients analytics this morning (yes that is how I start my day! coffee and stats, breakfast of geeks) I took some extra time to look at the geography of their traffic.  I talk a lot about the fact that our programs drive quality traffic to your websites and one of the ways I make sure this holds true is by looking at the geography (that and I like maps).

So what I want to see for businesses that are not going to sell anything to someone more than 100 miles aways is that a majority of their traffic is coming from that radius.  Of course anytime you start driving thousands of extra visits to a website each month you are going to get random traffic from outside of this radius but you need things to be concentrated within your actual target area.  If 90% of your traffic isn’t coming from this target then you need to make some adjustments.

For businesses that we have that are more national in scope I use the geography in a different manor.  Sure even national businesses have hot points they want to focus their efforts on and we will make sure that those are the majority of traffic.  I also like to take a look at what areas outside of these targets that are showing up as hot.  We can then evaluate those markets as potential expansion areas.  If there are locations that are getting a lot of people on your site and you aren’t even trying in the area maybe you need to explore options in that market and expand your business!

Let me guess…when you saw the topic of this post you thought I was going to talk about Search Engines, backlinks, referrals, and direct traffic?  I don’t want to discount those stats but that is for another day!  Don’t take the geography for granted…it can show you the quality of your traffic and even give you data to expand your business if you want to take things to a new level.

1. SpringPad - This great note-taking, list-making, resource-keeping app serves so many purposes it is amazing!  Create different notebooks for different areas of your life and keep those aspects separate.  Separate to-do lists and even separate flagged websites or resources.  I was an Evernote user before I was introduced to SpringPad.  Evernote is still a GREAT app but the to-do list feature in SpringPad set it apart.  If you are not a list maker then check out Evernote as well…both great apps!
2. Dropbox – I still am not sure how we functioned before Dropbox.  This cloud based storage application allows you to store any files you want on the go and access them via your computer, iPad, iPhone or other portable computing device.  It operates quickly and allows you to view most file types from directly within the Dropbox application.  Upgrade to a pro account and you can have some serious storage space for all the things you need!
3. Flipboard – An amazing way to see your social media streams!  Set it up to display your twitter or facebook feed in a digital magazine style layout.  It even brings in the links posted by your friends and followers to the app so that you don’t have to click to read the information.  You can also set Flipboard up to display various news sources, magazines so that you can have a ton of information all at your finger tips in one app!  And it is a BEAUTIFUL interface…well done Flipboard!
4. Chronicle – For all you journal keepers out there…this app is the best one I have found for the iPad.  It is set up to default to a password protected option and the simplicity of the app is the best thing!  You don’t need a ton of options for a journal app and this doesn’t bog things down with too many options.  It is a great tool for keeping a journal.  If you want more than that, look elsewhere.
5. Adobe Ideas – There are a lot of sketching options out there…this one is my personal favorite.  Not anything that blow you away on the options side of things but it is reactive, simple to use and gives you a great way to sketch out ideas on the fly.  There are better options out there if you want to create a finished product on you iPad, but if you are looking for something to jot down your ideas to take home and finish on a better application this is a wonderful tool.
6. Good Reader - My personal favorite PDF and other document reader on the iPad.  Functions so that you can view many different formats.  It will open zipped folders and let you view their contents and even works with iCloud!  Great all around piece of software.
7. Pulse - This news reader is very functional and brings in many different news streams into one application. You can even set it up to pull in your twitter and Facebook streams if you like.  It has several magazine options in its default menu and if you are a tech geek like me you will love the options!
8. Wikipanion - The Wikipedia tool for both iPad and iPhone is awesome!  I use this to end arguments all the time.  Hear something that peaks your interest?  Learn more on Wikipanion no matter where you are.  I actually use this app more than I go to Wikipedia.
9. The Weather Channel - Being in Oklahoma, we are obsessed with the weather!  We want to know what is going on and what could go on at all times.  We pretty much plan our lives around the weather and this app helps you know what to expect…even in Oklahoma when you can have all four seasons in the course of a couple days!  A great map feature that has proven to be the most responsive one out there along with alerts and even a social option that lets you read what people are tweeting about in regard to the weather make this a full service app giving you all the weather info you need!
10. Zinio – I know Apple just added the Newsstand app to iOS5 but my favorite magazine option is Zinio.  You can subscribe to magazine directly inside the app or purchase individual issues.  The interface is nice and it is a pleasant experience reading the publications.  They even have free articles from a number of publications to give you content without having to pay for anything.  This is a nice touch if you have a small amount of time to pass and don’t want to commit to an entire issue.

Social Media – Join the Conversation

Okay…I know I have worn out the “Join the Conversation” title but hopefully I have changed it up enough to keep you engaged and interested.  This will be the last one.  I will come up with something new for the next one, I promise!

If you have been to one of my other presentations (Join the Conversation & Personal Branding Using Social Media) I generally start out with some ridiculous stats to prove to you that social media is making an impact around the world and probably in your life as well.  I do not think that is necessary any more.  We all know that Facebook is large enough to be its own country and that Twitter is growing and being seen more and more in the main stream.  We all watch YouTube videos, most of us are signed up for LinkedIn and there are a few of you out there that are checking in on FourSquare or something similar.  You get it right?  Social media outlets are everywhere and we are all probably starting to use them more and more.  I would go out on a limb and say that many of you utilize them more than some traditional media/communication outlets of the past.  I for one, use Twitter as my main breaking-news source.  I use Facebook to message friends more than I call them on the phone and I get my coupons from Groupon and FourSquare.  Unlike my father who still reads three papers per day, I pick up my iPad and see what is flying around online and I use blogs and RSS feeds to gather that news.  Times aren’t changing…they have already changed.

So with all that said how do you better harness the power of social media outlets and all that they have to offer?  Well that is what we are going to talk about.

Social Media Tools

TweetDeck is my preferred tool of choice for managing my social media outlets.  It gives you a one-stop resource to watch your Twitter feed, follow your Facebook friends updates, find out what is trending and update both Twitter and Facebook at the same time if you want.  TweetDeck can also be used for LinkedIn, Foursquare, MySpace and Google Buzz. You can customize the look and feel of the program and can organize it the way that works best for you.  It also has a built-in URL shortener to keep those long URLs from stealing your characters.  You can post pictures and record video from your webcam all from this user-friendly application that serves as a hub of all things social media.

Hootsuite would be my number two in the world of management tools and it is very similar to TweetDeck.  It also has the same capabilities as TweetDeck but offers some additional features that are loved by many professional users.  They have the capability to give you analytics on you accounts and can be linked to Google Analytics to put your website traffic in front of you along with your social media updates.  You can also add your favorite RSS feeds to your Hootsuite settings so that they all are in one location.  Unlike TweetDeck, Hootsuite does not have a native desktop application.  It functions within a web browser rather than in its own application.

Seesmic is my third choice when it comes to social media tools.  It was one of the first on the scene but did little to separate itself the way that TweetDeck and Hootsuite have.  It is still a solid choice that includes most of the features of the other two in a little bit of a different layout.  You can still manage your social accounts in one place and it can be used as either a browser based option or as a desktop application much like TweetDeck.  Where Seesmic has separated itself is in the business world.  With more than 90 third-party integrations you can set up Seesmic to connect with Salesforce, Yammer and even Stocktwits which are all corporate and business oriented options.

There are additional options out there to help you manage your digital presence.  It is a matter of trying them out and finding the one that works the best for you.  By the way, these are all free to use!  Start downloading and play with them until you find the one you like the best.

New Comers

Google+ sprang onto the scene a couple of months ago with the usual Google buzz and hype.  I, like many of you probably, got an invite and joined.  To this day I am not sure why to use it.  It is a repetition of things we are already using.  It is a repeat of Facebook and Twitter as far as the information you post and receive from your friends or followers.  It is yet another venue to visit and check with the people you are already checking with on your other social networks.  It is backed by Google so it will stick around for a while but as they did with some of their other attempts to break into this game they are too late.  Facebook is at 750 million users and growing…it is going to be hard to get them to switch to a new platform even though Facebook’s recent changes have made many of their users second guess this.  The one cool aspect of Google+ is that you can group your friends into “circles” showing you your own clicks of friends so that you can keep topics and trends separated between your different circles.

Pinterest.  My wife’s new obsession, narrowly taking over from Angry Birds!  This new player in the game of social media is nailing a need straight on the head.  This platform allows users to “Pin” things that they like while surfing the internet.  It can be an article, blog post, picture…pretty much anything you can find online.  Like all other social platforms users pick and choose who they follow and what their interests are.  As my wife likes to say it is like you have thousands of people surfing the web for you…and you don’t have to waste the time looking for things yourself.  While I have resisted the urge to join Pinterest so far it does look to be a great way to learn more about your interests and utilize the power of the people to find new things online.

And now for my new obsession…Instagram.  Unfortunately it is an iPhone only application and network that uses pictures to express where people are and what they are doing.  The basic gist of Instagram is that it is Twitter with pictures.  It even has some cool filters that you can apply to your images giving them unique looks.  You can also set it up to post directly to Facebook and Twitter as well so that you can share your pictures with your networks.  If you have an iPhone this is a fun past time and can be habit forming.   There are rumors of Instagram coming to Android soon but it has yet to come true.

Geo-based applications are coming on strong and the leader of the pack so far is Foursquare.  Foursquare uses check-ins to tell your network of followers where you are or where you have been.  You can recommend restaurants or other locations that you think your followers might enjoy.  You earn points for checkins and earn badges for various accomplishments and you can compete with friends to spice things up if you wish.  Businesses are starting to jump on the bandwagon offering coupons and incentives for your checkins.  For instance if you checkin at Chili’s you will get free chips and salsa.  The other big player in the geo-based world is Gowalla.  It is very similar to Foursquare and the one that works best for you is likely based on the city you live in.  Some have taken to one more than the other and you want to pick the one that will offer you the most deals!

Growing Use of Social Media in Marketing

I have preached the benefits of social media marketing to the association world for the past 5 years and now the rest of the marketing world is jumping in head first.  If you have watched much television these days you have probably noticed the inclusion of screen graphics giving viewers the hashtag to use when they tweet about certain shows.  Competition shows are even assigning tags to specific contestants so that they can judge the like or dislike of their performance.  They will be able to track every comment made on Twitter using the tags and that will give them invaluable amounts of data regarding their viewers.  If any of you watched the Voice last year you may have noticed that the judges were posting to Twitter as they watched the show and during the live shows they were posting as it happened.  They even interacted with fans directly.  This engages the viewers on a whole other level never before available.

Beyond Twitter businesses are starting to use YouTube as an advertising medium right along with television, radio and newspapers.  Volkswagen took this to another level last year during the Super Bowl.  They purchased one 30 second spot during the Super Bowl.  They also made a 60 second version of the same spot that was posted to YouTube the week before.  The 60 second version was seen by more than 10 million people in the first three days and today boasts more than 42 million views.  By posting the 60 second version rather than buying that amount of airtime during the Super Bowl they saved millions of dollars.  Thanks to the power of social media they did not lose out on their impact at all.  In fact they also have interviews and even a making of the spot online with more that 3 million additional views.

The advertising agency that I work for did an entire campaign based on one 3-minute YouTube video and a website re-design for a small-town car dealership in Oklahoma.  We produced a piece focusing on this family-owned business, made it fun and gave it catchy music.  We then utilized online link and banner placements to drive traffic to both the video on YouTube and their website.  In a little over 4 months the video only has 1,000 or so views but the impact on their website traffic has accounted for a 30% sales increase and they have had so much traffic they had to change their current sales process to speed things up for customers.

Another of our clients, a car-dealership in Wichita, Kansas, embraced social phenomena and wanted to have some fun with them and interact with their customers through their Facebook page.  We developed a campaign called Socially Acceptable and built several commercials for them to air on local television as well as online.  The first spot to run is about planking and the commercial takes it to a whole new level with sales people and customers planking throughout the commercial.  The dealership is offering a one-year lease of a car to the person who posts a planking picture to their Facebook page and gets the most likes.  They are also offering $200 cash back for anyone that planks at the dealership when buying a new car.  It is meant to be fun and it is meant to meet their customers on their level.  There is no more talking at customers.  You now have to talk with them.

Do’s and Don’ts

I have talked in the past about what you should and shouldn’t post to social media.  They have not changed.  The easy way to look at it is that if you would not shout it out or show it to a room full of friends and strangers then don’t post it.  This is growing more and more true as businesses start to utilize social media tools as a way of vetting employees.  They are looking at your digital presence more and more and the way that you present yourself on these platforms is critical.   You also need to know that your current employers are probably following you and keeping up with what you are doing online through social media outlets.  Do not post anything that can can be viewed as critical on your profiles or you may have to pay the consequences.  Remember that whether it be Twitter or Facebook or LinkedIn they are meant to be resources for you and meant to be fun.  So use them as that…something for fun and a place to gather information.

So let’s kick this off with some just plain old bad writing…Sorry AAA.  You are a great company and I have heard wonderful things about what you do…but these commercials are poorly written.  They sound robotic and the emotion is so fake it is hard to watch.  The production quality is not very good either but it is the writing that got you on the list.  These spots only run in Oklahoma…maybe only Tulsa.  Amazingly they are not online!  They may very well be the only commercials NOT online anywhere.  Hopefully you know which ones I am talking about.  Sorry that I can’t find a link.

Since AAA was spared, here is another one that was intended to be funny. I hope.  It comes from a friend on Facebook and is for Sheets Energy Strips.  It really earns its spot on the list because of bad green screen production as well as the writing.  Funny?  Well you can decide, doesn’t make me want to put anything in my mouth to get more energy though, I can tell you that one for sure.

Another one from Facebook…I don’t want to get a theme going with the toilet humor but this is maybe he worst concept for a commercial ever.  I don’t really even know what to say about it.  I am sure it illustrates the effectiveness of the product but to turn it into a contest…well that leaves me speechless.

And here is one from Tulsa…this is a local car dealership that honestly does some of the worst all around commercials in the market.  Are they selling cars?  Absolutely…because they spend a ton of money spreading their commercials around and making sure we see how bad they are.  Yes…I am now helping their cause!

I am sure that you have others that you think need to be on my next list.  Leave them in the comments and I will certainly include them next time.  There are enough good and bad commercials out there for multiple posts so you can expect more.

Here are some links to some (dis)honorable mention picks…enjoy!

• Kia Party Rock Anthem
• Doritos Nacho Hand
• Lifestyles Lighting or Furniture

Of course I have opinions on what is good and bad…I also asked my Facebook and Twitter friends to let me know what their thoughts were.  The first one that I absolutely agree with came from both Twitter and Facebook in the Toyota Venza spots featuring the 20-somethings kids talking about their parents boring lives…when in fact the parents are out living it up.  Here is one:

2011 Toyota Venza – Social Network

I absolutely love this campaign!  It hits home with my generation right now as I know my parents are out traveling the world now that my brother and I are out of the house.  They are clever enough to make you remember the spot and even if you don’t remember the model of car you do remember that it is Toyota.  Well done!

Another favorite from Facebook and the Pineapple office is the Travelers Insurance campaign featuring the dog and his bone…here is their latest:

Travelers Insurance – Stolen Bone

They do a wonderful job of evoking the emotion of the dog and his desire to protect his property…this latest one shows the sadness and panic in the dog and then shows the joy when his stolen property is replaced.  Great campaign and they are able to use a series of spots to show the many layers of Travelers Insurance…keeping the same look and feel in each spot so that their overall brand is supported.

Of course there are more great campaigns out there…I am a big fan of the current FedEx campaign, the Grab Some Buds campaign from Budweiser and the Imported from Detroit campaign from Chrysler are also top notch.  Thanks to those that submitted your favorites on Facebook and via Twitter.  Pineapple is going to be releasing a new campaign for a client in Wichita, Kansas, next week.  I will be blogging about that next week…as it takes a new twist on car commercials and they are pretty funny too.

1.  Don’t talk too much.  You will learn a lot more by asking open-ended, short questions and letting the client do all the talking.  You will get a better understanding of their style, what they are looking for, and whether or not you are going to have future opportunities for projects.

2.  Focus on the client’s business as if it were your own.  The best way to do this is by not focusing on the budget they have and focus on their goals.  By showing your interest in the success of the company and how you can benefit them before harping on the money your client will be more willing to spend what they need to.  They will see your benefit to them ahead of the dollars and it will make you more important to them.

3.  Remember the project is for the client.  As designers we all have our favorite designs.  While you should advise your clients to pick the best designs, you have to understand that the artwork is not for you…it is for the client.  Take critique for what it is…suggestions from the person paying you.  I am not saying you should compromise the aesthetic but ultimately you HAVE to give them the design they want.

4.  Focus on quality.  In the past I would try to give clients so many choices it would get confusing.  I have learned to focus on 2-3 top-notch designs and make your pitch.  You will make revisions but my focusing on the quality of those initial designs you will make fewer revisions in the long run.

5.  Don’t waste time.  This goes both ways.  You don’t want to waste your time or your clients.  If there is a project that you can not efficiently complete…don’t take it!  I know it is hard to turn down money but the more honest you are with your limitations the better off you will be.  Don’t be afraid to pass work on to a colleague that is better suited for a project.  It will make your client happier and who knows…that colleague may just pass some work your way in the future.  Time is money…and that goes for the time you waste treading water on a project you don’t have the skills to complete efficiently.

Okay…so there are 5 tips to dealing with clients as a freelancer.  Nothing groundbreaking but some things you might take for granted.

Good luck!

J

How do you or your company come up with blog topics?  Are you focuses on what work is being done or what work you want to do?  Are you talking about your clients and their projects?  Are you simply a personal journal where you share the thoughts going through your head?  All of these are valid topics but the trick is keeping a focused blog running with frequent and consistent posts.

If you want consistent and frequent traffic to your blog then you have to be able to provide your readers with consistent content.  This means you have to schedule your posts out including the topic so that you can make sure that your posts are consistent.  I know what you are thinking…”Your posts aren’t even consistent.”  True.  I am trying to help you become better than I am!  I am also not specifically running a blog here, I am running a design and marketing business that provides visitors to the site with information that I feel will help them in these areas.

With that said if you are truly going to make the blog the focus of your website and business consistency is key.  Make a schedule of topics and times to make posts so that you are set to make these consistent posts.  You should also be willing to throw in short and sweet timely posts in between your scheduled ones to add value and numbers.  These posts will also help engage readers and fuel the conversation with your visitors.

Don’t be afraid to throw in some posts about the people at your business or some personal stories to give the blog a personality itself.  Just make sure you are not posting anything controversial about co-workers or clients, and DO NOT post anything about yourself that might be viewed in a negative light.  Everything you post is a reflection of you and your company and you should remember that.

At Pineapple Advertising (here’s the blog!)we like to post information about what we are doing in the office as well as what campaigns are running for our clients.  We will also take a look at what historically has happened on the date or any holidays and quirky things are going on.  We try to keep things fun and upbeat while giving readers information they will find interesting.

So the next time you sit down to make your blog post and you can’t think of anything take a look around you, ask co-workers or friends and look at your schedule to see what topic will work best!

I have been in the marketing/public relations/communications business for 10 years and I can’t honestly say that I have a clue as to the answer to this question.  My father, although he is coming around, still thinks you have to wear a suit everyday to work or you are not working.  Don’t tell Dad but I don’t even own a suit!  Sure I have a variety of dress pant and sport coat options that get me by if needed but I can count the number of times on one hand that I have worn them to client meetings.  When I did I can’t say that it helped or hurt my meeting either…so does it matter at all as long as your clothing isn’t offensive?

My new job with Pineapple Advertising actually discourages the corporate look because that is not what the agency is all about.  We are trendy and comfortable and when we meet with clients they are low-key and fun no matter what the budget or client…it is the personality of the company.

When I am meeting with clients for freelance jobs I tend to adjust my attire to suit the client…if it is a law firm then they get a corporate look…if it’s a non-profit they get casual.  But does it really matter?

Is your dress code more meaningful to you or to your audience?  Should you focus on what makes you comfortable and confident or should you dress in a manner that makes your audience comfortable and confident in what you are saying?  I think it can go both ways and often times if you are comfortable and confident that is what will come across in your message anyway.

I also think there is some truth to the thinking that if you do not have to worry about what you wear each day then you can worry more about doing your job better.

I would love to hear your thoughts on this topic…maybe you can give me some ammunition for good old Dad the next time he calls me a hippy!