Practical Internet Marketing Strategies

Often times I sit with my son and daughter and find educational websites, including videos on YouTube (usually of giraffes, zebras, elephants, etc). Today, my son asked to see talking couches.  He's four.  So, I looked for videos of talking couches and I was not surprised to find the first result below.  My son, on the other hand, was extremely excited to see a real live talking couch!

This goes to show one thing. If you are looking for something specific you can probably find it on the web. And if you sell talking couches I hope that you are shown on the first page of search results. How do you do that? By following search engine optimization techniques and updating your content frequently.  Using a web content management system that lets you do both is a great start.

Last night I went to Maggiano's with some friends. The pasta is very good. But isn't italian usually better on the second day? All the flavors have more time to work their way in so the next day when you take a bite it seems much more rich and sensual than the night before.

So, my question is .... does your company provide a product or service that tastes better the second day - when the customer is beyond their initial purchase high? 

I hope so.

With Internet marketing, just like in your personal life, you have to focus on fundamentals. Here is a picture of my son Ethan.  This is his first fish. That day, we focused on one of life's fundamental pleasures - a boy and his dad going fishing. The excitement of catching the fish was quickly trumped by the terror of the fish flipping around on the line which almost led to Ethan falling into the pond. That was immediately followed by nearly unstoppable laughing and giggling by us both. Excitement - Fright - Laughing. What emotions!

When you put together your online marketing initiatives, what sort of fundamental emotions will your visitors experience when they see and read your material? Getting search engine visibility is a wonderful thing but always remember that search engines are not reading your content, real people are. Real people with happy memories and sad memories, stressful memories and comforting memories. Learning how to engage these visitors with stories that touch their fundamental emotions is key to winning more customers and long term relationships.

Can the name of your company determine your level of success? Maybe. It depends on what you're selling.

If you're selling a service, your name should somehow convey the service you offer. If you're selling a product, your company name may not have as big an impact as the product name. Just remember it will still be tied to the product.

Look at this sign. Sure the name is probably pronounced "cray-poe," but when I first read it I thought "crappo" - a short "a". 

A company name is most important during two points in time - 1) when a prospect first sees the name; and 2) when a customer tells someone else about it. Beyond that, it's all based on the relationship you establish. Chances are the name will either have meaning to someone and they might remember it or it won't and they will completely ignore it. In the case of this insurance company, it made me laugh and think about crappy insurance.

What impression will your company name leave?