Do you sometimes click around your AdWords account just to see if anything funny is going on?  A few months ago Google introduced custom alerts designed to notify you when your budget reaches a certain point or your CTR is tanking or any other area of concern.  To access this feature, navigate to the Keywords tab, on the bar below the graph click More actions, click Create a custom alert, then set the parameters of your alert.  To see your alerts, check the Messages section at the top of your account, or set up e-mail notification.  Unfortunately right now the custom alerts are not an option for MCC accounts, but they’ll really be a time saver for those managing individual accounts. For more info you can check out the Inside AdWords blog here: http://adwords.blogspot.com/2009/08/new-interface-thursdays-keep-tabs-on.html

I spent years in customer service, so many aspects of managing client relations come naturally to me.  I’m writing this today because of a conversation I had with a fellow small business owner who doesn’t share my background in serving clients.  A client of hers sent an e-mail expressing displeasure at the rate her project was moving.  Immediately my mind started racing with thoughts of what the bigger picture may be.  Typically there’s more to the story than is revealed in an e-mail.

My first piece of advise was to not respond to the client via e-mail.  This complaint warranted a phone call.  Additionally, I advised her to take the tone of the e-mail with a grain of salt. One can’t hear voice inflection or tonality in an e-mail and frequently people aren’t gifted at expressing their emotions in writing.

Next I told her that no matter whose fault it is, she is to take responsibility for it.  If it was the client’s fault and the client is a reasonable, she will realize she’s partly responsible as the conversation unfolds.  If it was my friend’s fault, then she is to own up to it and find out what the client needs in order to keep the relationship and project on track.

Customer service isn’t always easy.  I think many small business owners find it challenging when they not only have to manage business development, marketing, production, administrative duties, etc., but they also have to manage dissatisfied clients.  It is time consuming, it is distracting, but it is worth it.  Frequently small business owners can turn a difficult situation around and wind up with a very loyal customer.

A common mistake business owners make when creating their profile on LinkedIn is to call themselves “Owner”.  This does not describe what you actually do, so it’s best, for the purposes of being found in a search, to use a description with industry keywords as your title.  For example, I am an Internet Marketing Specialist at Search Ad Marketing. A friend who owns a travel business is a ‘Travel Expert”.  These terms are more likely to be used as keywords in a search than “Owner”.

If you change your title, be mindful of any recommendations you have that were tied to the old title.  These may be moved to the unassigned state.  If this happens to you, please follow these steps:

• Go to the left-hand navigation menu. Click ‘Recommendations’ under the ‘Profile’ sub-menu.
• Scroll down to the ‘Unassigned recommendations’ part of the page. Click ‘Show ‘Recommendations’.
• You can now assign each recommendation to a specific experience listing.

Good luck with your search and find objectives!

From the office of the Plymouth, MI city manager, Paul Sincock “A Royal Oak Film Production Company is currently planning on shooting part of a feature length movie in Plymouth’s Old Village Area at JR Cycle Works on Amelia. The production is anticipated to take place on Friday, August 14th and Monday, August 17th. Residents and drivers in the area of Farmer and Amelia can anticipate that traffic in the area will be heavy as film crews bring trucks, equipment and staff to this area of the Old Village. The Plymouth site is the first site of the day of a multi-location filming on both days, so crews and equipment will be arriving in the area during the early morning hours.

According to the production company’s web site; the “Radish Creative Group produces its first full-length feature, Annabelle & Bear, this summer in Metro Detroit. The Royal Oak, MI-based production company, known for creating award-winning commercial spots, makes this exciting transition to feature films in the midst of the state’s thriving movie-making community. The film is based on a story by Emmy-award winning director Amy Weber, who is producing and directing the film, as well.
The movie will be shot exclusively in the state of Michigan. In addition, Annabelle & Bear has the unique distinction of employing and enlisting a 100% Michigan cast and crew.”

Again, residents and drivers in the area of Farmer Street and Amelia can anticipate that film crews will be working in the area on Friday, August 14th and Monday, August 17th starting in the early morning hours. This work may affect traffic flows on both Farmer and Amelia as crews move equipment and staffing into the area.”

In a special announcement this evening LocalAdLink rolled out details of the search boost guarantee:

1. Search Boost is an add-on enhancement to any existing LocalAdLink Ad Package. It is the fastest and most effective method to get your LocalAdLink ad listed on Google, Yahoo, and major search engines.

2. The Search Boost Guarantee*: Utilizing a paid placement model, we purchase premium
placement on Google & Yahoo for your selected LocalAdLink ad. Our experts will create your
ad and select the keywords that will ensure your ad will receive first page ranking* on these
search engines.

3. 48-Hour Guarantee**: Get listed fast! Your ad will be listed in 48 hours**.  This is the fastest
way to get your business listed on these major search engines.

4. Ad Creation & Expert Keywords: All Search Boost Ads are created by our Search Engine
experts who choose the most effective keywords and construct your ad for optimal
performance based on the LocalAdLink Ad Details you submit.

5. Our Customer Service is unmatched. Utilize our online Customer Relationship Management
(CRM) system and a representative will respond on the same business day or contact you via
phone.

6. With Search Boost, there are no variable pay-per-click charges and no hidden fees.

7. Search Boost Details: The Search Boost enhances your LocalAdLink package. The Search
Boost upgrade includes 10 keywords. The monthly fee is $199.99 and must be used in
conjunction with a LocalAdLink Ad Package. Search Boost is geo-targeted to the same zip
codes as your LocalAdLink Ad Package.

* LocalAdLink will continually monitor all ad performance to achieve the best placement possible. Your Search Boost Ad will achieve Page 1 results over the course of the term (average placement over each 30 day period will average “first page results”). Daily results may vary. **In order for your Search Boost Ad to go live within 48 hours you MUST complete the basic components of your LocalAdlink Ad (Business Name and Business Details) within 24 hours of your ad purchase.

We LOVE all the added benefits SearchBoost offers LocalAdLink advertisers, but who wants to wait 48 hours?  Our team can build your ad, help you choose your keywords and get you up on the system within 24 hours.  We do charge an additional fee for this service, but if you’re in a rush, we can help you whip up a professional ad created by one of the advertising industries most talented designers and back it with keywords researched by a professional search marketer with years of experience getting first page placement on Google.  How can we help you?

For more information about how to advertise with LocalAdLink or to learn about exciting income opportunities, please visit our page on the LocalAdLink site.
For a different spin on the info, please visit my partner’s site.

Details on LocalAdLink’s addition of SearchBoost are starting to roll out.  In a message to VIP’s on Tuesday, SearchBoost was described as, “…an ala cart service that is going to guarantee page 1 listings on Google, Yahoo! and Bing.”  For $199.99 clients who choose this ad-on package will be able to choose ten additional “targeted terms” that will populate their ad on the first page of search results.  This news is outstanding for local online advertisers!  Until now, benefits of LocalAdLink aside, there was no guarantee that ads would appear within the top 25 pages, let alone the first page.

If advertisers consider what is spent on other online and offline ads, the value here screams at you! For less than $300/month local advertisers can appear on Beyond Commerce properties such as LocalAdLink.com, Boomj.com and LocalShoppingLink.com as well as 200 other search engines, high traffic websites and social networks.  Now with the addition of SearchBoost, ads will also appear on the first page of top search engines as well as on their network of partner search engines, websites and social networks!  Our team of Brand Builders and account representatives is very excited about the addition of this product.

For more information about how to advertise with LocalAdLink or to learn about exciting income opportunities, please visit our page on the LocalAdLink site.
For a different spin on the info, please visit my partner’s site.

In a posting on their website on August 3, 2009, Beyond Commerce discusses news released on August 1.  “Founder Bob McNulty announced the addition of SearchBoost to LocalAdLink’s advertising platform.  Bo White, Senior Vice President of Beyond Commerce said, “There is no comparable product in the online advertising arena”.  It completes the product offering, strengthening LocalAdLink’s position as the ideal affordable advertising solution for local businesses.”  A more detailed description of what SearchBoost means to advertisers is upcoming.  There will be a corporate conference call on August 3rd at 9pm EST to recap the event where the announcement was made.  More…

Social networking and social media outlets should not be ignored by small business.  Sure, it is time consuming and often one can get side tracked, but if the small business owner wants to be proactive in the hunt for new clients, maintaining current clients and rebuilding relationships with past clients, social media is a great, free, easy way to network with people already engaged with your product or service.

Twitter offers an audience of forward thinking consumers.  Commonly, Tweeple (Twitter people) are the ones talking up a new brand or shredding it to pieces.  Need proof?  See Bruno a One Day Wonder.  Search can be performed on Twitter to see who in your region is talking about you.  If they are happy with you, take the opportunity to build your brand more with them by engaging in a discussion about them, their needs, and desires.  If they’re not so happy with you, build unbreakable loyalty by taking this opportunity to hear them out and make it right.

LinkedIn offers a level of credibility and integrity. As of this writing, 80% of users are college educated/white collar workers and 8% are C level executives.  People searching for you can see who your contacts are and immediately judge whether or not it’s worth their time to connect with you.  The ability to receive (and give) recommendations let’s people who have found you get a taste of what clients, co-workers, employers, etc. think of you professionally.  Your peers can confirm you as an expert in your field by rating your answers to their questions.  The ability to join groups of like minded people gives you exposure to people you probably wouldn’t have an opportunity to meet.  Recently “Companies” has become an area where you may create a profile for your business.  In companies your profile may include a summary, who your current, past and new employees are as well as company news, stock information and your blog posts, plus much more.

Facebook is exponentially growing.  Now with 250 million users it’s becoming a top place for advertisers to market their products and services.  Facebook maintains an incredible amount of personal data, voluntarily submitted by it’s users.  Advertisers tap the data and filter the users to get an extermely relevant audience for their ads.  Often the CPC fees are below and estimated clicks are higher that those on Google.  Another benefit to utilizing Facebook is the ability to build a page for your business.  Pages offer Events, Discussions, Reviews, Photos, and almost anything else you can conceive.  The planning committee for my high school reunion created a page for our class and communicated primarily through wall posts to our classmates.  It’s a wonderful tool!

In summary, there are many uses to utilizing the top three social media outlets.  It takes time to evaluate which is right for your business, but you’ll find they all offer the ability to get closer to your consumers and build your relationships.  Check them out and give them a shot.

I have a creative mind.  I am surrounded by others with creative minds.  I was touched by one of these minds today in a blog post written on 7/14 by Anirudha Kurulkar.  Here is the link to his post: PPC & SEO Compared to Human Life

His story relates the importance of using negative keywords in PPC campaigns to appear in exactly the kind of search for which you want to be found.  Briefly, you ask God for a child, God gives you a beautiful child but the child is blind.  Well, you didn’t tell God you wanted a child with sight.  You got lucky he gave you one with legs, but why leave your results to luck.  Give search engines enough information to give you exactly what you want.  Negative keywords are an underutilized important part of all campaigns.  Use them and use them wisely.

With Google dominating the search engine market, Microsoft has decided to try and best Google at it’s own game, with “Bing”. Bing is what Microsoft likes to call a “decision engine” rather that a search engine; This is because Bing claims to be the most accurate search engine on the net, advertised that it gives you the results you want with nothing unrelated. I decided that before I could fully trust this, I needed to test it out. After my short time with Bing, I found that it did have a number of helpful features to get what you’re looking for faster. For example, hovering your mouse over the site displayed a short blurb of information about the site, including a summary of it’s contents. Bing doesn’t seem to be anything revolutionary, but it is efficient. The only question now is if it can actually beat Google.

Microsoft’s Game Plan

Microsoft is putting a lot of money into promoting Bing in various forms of media. This means that more people will be aware of it’s existence than any other new niche search engine. Because it is a Microsoft product, any computer that has the default internet explorer homepage and search engine will be forwarded to Bing. Traditionally this has lead to an older and less savvy audience, however with the mix of new and unseen features and large media push it could attract a larger and broader demographic than the previous Live.com had.

What Does That Mean For Us?

In the end we should pay close attention to Bing. Not only does it have potential to capture a large market share from Google, it also will have much better deals and pricing for pay per click as the demand for Bing adverting has not reached that of Google. There may be very qualified traffic searching Bing and it is a relatively open market place for advertising. It would be worth dedicating some time and money to test out a Bing search engine marketing campaign. With the metrics and measurement we can use today it would not take long to get a clear picture of the return on investment possible through the Bing search engine.

Beyond natural and paid search marketing you may also want to pay close attention to what features they are adding to their search. Like Google it seems they are planning to have enhanced results that include a variety of media. This may be Video, flight listings, products, images, etc… all of these areas are an opportunity to start a search campaign.