We have all heard the term and think we understand it, but what is viral marketing?  According to Wikipedia, Viral marketing and viral advertising refer to “marketing techniques that use pre-existing social networks to produce increases in brand awareness, through self-replicating viral processes, analogous to the spread of pathological and computer viruses.” Viral marketing is today’s electronic equivalent of old-fashioned word of mouth. It’s a marketing strategy that involves creating an online message that is entertaining enough to prompt consumers to pass it on to others, at no cost to the advertiser. 

Still, viral marketing success depends on the rate at which the idea can be passed along person to person. It becomes a free marketing system that works around the clock 24/7. It is claimed that a satisfied customer tells an average of three people about a product or service he/she likes, and eleven people about a product or service which he/she did not like.

Read the rest of this entry »

If I had a nickel for every time a client told me that they wanted to show up on page one in the natural section of the major search engines, I would be rich! The truth of the matter is that it can be done, although it takes patience and effort. Not unlike most, patience has never been one of my best attributes! It is all about instant gratification in today’s day and world…we all want to see immediate results. Unfortunately, Natural Search does not work that way. Anyone who guarantees first page positions in Google is not being honest. There is no magic formula or a quick fix to achieve first page, natural results. That being said, if you play by the rules to get your site in better shape from an organic perspective, you will see positive results. All you need is a little patience!

The following are a few suggestions that you can implement to improve your site organically in the major search engines: Google, Yahoo, MSN, etc. Again, this will not immediately get you first page positions—that will take time—but it will help get you there sooner!

Read the rest of this entry »

Social Media has taken off over the past year and a half. MySpace, FaceBook, Wikipedia, YouTube, Second Life, Digg, Flickr, TripAdvisor etc. just to name a few, all bring users together to share media, insight, opinions and perspectives. Each network shares text, images, video, and audio. As social networks continue to evolve, niche groups like High School sports, Mothers and Doctors are now participating in vertical networks.

Since most of my experience is in paid search and contextual advertising, Social Media is still a fairly new thing to me. As I continue to learn about the basics of this new media; I am sure many of you are in the same boat as I am. So here’s a little background on Social Networks. Basically, it’s a website which brings users together to share anything those users have in common. As per my examples above; high school athletes can demonstrate their skills on Takkle.com, doctors can share diagnosis and cases on Sermo.com, and mothers can share their experiences on Maya’sMom.com.

Read the rest of this entry »