Small eCommerce or startup companies with great ideas are usually strapped with a pretty tight budget, and actually having the budget to make an effective marketing campaign come to life can seem like the best Christmas present EVER.

There are many reasons why a startup eCommerce store needs Inbound Marketing.

Here are 6 of those many reasons:

1.  More Traffic Means More Sales -

Ok, duh!  More traffic to your website means that you are more likely to have more sales.  But getting this traffic just doesn't happen overnight.  The days of stuffing your website with keywords and hoping that others will just find your website are over.  The name of the game now is Authoritative Links and how many you got of em.  Inbound Marketing done right can help you achieve the results you want by creating more targeted traffic to your website through the creation of Remakable Content.  More Traffic, Equals More Sales.

2.  Brand Establishment-

Establishing your brand through inbound marketing tactics geared towards social media will give your company name and brand authority.  It may take a few months to get the ball rolling, but Effective Inbound Marketing for Social Media will integrate your store into your customers social media life.  Not everyone will know who the best cake seller in Athens, GA may be now, but with effective Inbound Marketing CareAway Cakes may be the number one destination for all of Athens residents happy occassions.

3.  Online AND Offline Communities -

Creating real and lasting connections with online and offline communities can be a valuable resource for your company.  I have very recently heard from a friend of mine over at PeachtreeSEO that there is a group of about 20 small businesses in my hometown of Peachtree City, GA that get together once a month to discuss online marketing strategies for their companies.  In addition to discussing strategies, they talk about what they are currently doing online and where you can find their local business information on sites like Google Places, Merchant Circle and Yelp!.  Members of the group visit eachothers websites as well as review websites and leave positive comments about their friends business.  It is an effective strategy to grow eachtohers businesses by joining eachothers discussions.  A successful Inbound Marketing campaign can take this offline group of 20 to an online group of well over 200.

4.  See Results of your GSD Attitude -

GSD stands for "Get Stuff Done" and you can read all about how Inbound Marketing is nothing without the GSD attitude on my previous article on Inbound Marketing Done Right.  Creating, Optimizing, Promoting, Converting, and Analyzing is the heart of Inbound Marketing.  A half-hearted attitude with a "I'll do it later" attitude will not get you very far in inbound marketing, nor in entrepreneurship.  Inbound Marketing goes hand in hand with the spirit of the entrepreneur whom had the vision to launch their eCommerce website selling what they love.  Start to see and reap the benefits of your hard work by engaging in Inbound Marketing.

5.  Get Seen, Not Read -

Did you know that YouTube is the second most used Search Engine behind Google?  YouTube searches were estimated by comScore at 3.7 Billion in March of 2010.  Want some of that action?  Inbound Marketing to the rescue!  Creating video content about your products and industry in a fascinating and remarkable way is a great way to market your products.  Checkout John Lawson of ColderICE and see how a shinning example of Inbound Marketing in action with his YouTube Channel.

6.  Become Remarkable -

The most beneficial reason for choosing Inbound Marketing for your eCommerce Store is the ability to become Remarkable.  Remarkable Content is content that others remark upon.  Content that Joe consumes and shares with Shirley who shares with her brother Jesse who shares with his dogs Pete and Repeat (my brother Jesse actually had dogs named Pete and Repeat) gets shared ALOT.  Remarkable content has the ability to spread to the masses and create significant traffic and sales for your company.  Get the idea?  The more Inbound Marketing strategies you undertake (creating remarkable content), the more remarkable and successful your business will become!

If you are a eCommerce Store, especially a relatively new one, that has seen a bit of success and have not started Inbound Marketing, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!?!?! Read More

eCommerce Inbound Marketing is the start and the end of success for businesses who sale online today.  If you want your company to stay afloat upon the turbulent waves of digital change, you better be prepared to Get Stuff Done.

HubSpot, the leader in Inbound Marketing, has an attitude that they look for in every employee they hire and every company who hires their consultants.   This attitude of both their employees and their customers has given HubSpot unheard of growth and expansion, even in a recession.  According to the Boston Hiring Blog, " In 2009, the company was pleased to  report a total of zero layoffs. Since the beginning of the recession, they have grown by 350%."   HubSpot delivers full disclosure to this aforementioned attitude on their Metholodogy Page "HubSpot isn't magic. It only works if you work .... HubSpotters who thoroughly implement this methodology while regularly using HubSpot software achieve average growth in traffic and leads of 10-30% per month."

INBOUND MARKETING = GET STUFF DONE

Although not their official methodology (checkout their official methodology, its pretty cool!) to inbound marketing success, living and breathing the GSD (Get Stuff Done) way is the true power behind HubSpot’s successful inbound marketing ventures. In the realm of inbound marketing, Get Stuff Done means: Creating, Optimizing, Promoting, Converting, and Analyzing.

• The Get Stuff Done attitude leaves no excuse for not Creating a company blog because everyone is too busy or has no idea how to set one up or even has the slightest idea to why it is even important.


• Say bye-bye to the days of creating excuses for your webpage not being properly Optimized for Search Engine Optimization.


• No longer are excuses acceptable for not Promoting your business through Twitter because you have no understanding of this whole “Social Media Thing.”


• There is absolutely no justification for not achieving top web rankings and dramatically increasing your online Conversion rates.


• The days of not understanding website traffic and conversions through careful Analysis to determine how to improve website through strategic change are over.

If you want it to happen, make it happen. Get Stuff Done today, do not wait until tomorrow, or the next day, get it done now.  Develop a game plan, put it into action and start achieving online success.  You have three options:

1. Do It Yourself (DIY) – There is a vast number of resources available on the internet practically begging for you to consume their information and execute their valuable information they so freely give away.  Try reading some Social Media Giants to gain inspiration, advice and guidance.  For a more in-depth how to guide, checkout Inbound Marekting: Get Found Using Google, Social Media and Blogs by Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah.


2. Make your next hire be an Inbound Marketer (I'm For Hire!).  Make this person prove to you they know how to create, optimize, promote, analyze and manage your online brand.  HubSpot defines this ideal marketer as having the qualities of DARCs.  Digital Native (knows the web fluently) with Analytical Chops (can implement, interpret and optimize website based on analytical data) who has web Reach (actively involved in the social media sphere and can bring their audience to your brand) with Content creating abilities (knows how to create remarkable content through blogs, videos and other creative outlets) and a Strategic mind capable of online domination.  Make  this person your  next hire, and put them in charge of maintaining a blog that he or she updates daily with keywords optimized for your brands.  A talented inbound marketer will know how to promote and manage your brand so effectively that they will dramatically increase your site traffic, your brands exposure, and your online profits at a rate that will astound you.


3. Hire a professional Inbound Marketing Agency to achieve the results you deserve.  Visit the HubSpot Service Marketplace to view a vast array of certified Inbound Marketing Consultants that best fits your needs.

I admit that this post is very much centrally focused on HubSpot.  There are other great online marketing companies around, but none better at Inbound Marketing than HubSpot.  This may be hard to believe for some, but not for the hundreds of thousands who passionately believe as I do.  Do a Twitter search for HubSpot and listen to the masses.  I am a firm believer in HubSpot’s success, marketing strategies, philosophies and services.  Just take a look at their Case Studies for tons of examples backing me up.

It is up to you to be successful.  Stop procrastinating and get started on your Inbound Marketing campaign today.

Get Stuff Done.

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Abraham Lincoln once said, "Things may come to those who wait, but only those things left by those who Hustle."

Abraham Lincoln was a hustler, a fighter, a scrapper and an opportunist. Honest Abe grew up as a dirt poor farm boy, not as a fortunate child with golden slippers. Lincoln understood at an early age that the factors that set men apart were attitude and effort. Nothing in this life is really given to you, you have to earn everything. Those that are willing to out work the competition, to firmly believe in the products they sale, to be excited and motivated each and every day about the opportunities they are making for themselves,  will always win.

The evolution of E-Commerce Optimization is more in your favor than ever before.  Never has the entry bar for online success been lower than it is now.  There are so many tools and resources freely available to help your business succeed that will truly make your business remarkable if only you are willing to hustle with attitude and effort.

How You Can Out Hustle Your Competition:

1.  Know your competition

• Who are you competing with?  If you are a re-seller of Golf-Cart parts in Peachtree City, GA -- who are you competing with?  Just sellers of Golf-Cart parts in Peachtree City?  Hardly.  You will be competing with sellers from all over the world.  Do a Google search on all of the parts you are selling.  "Buy Golf Cart Mirror" "Replace Golf Cart Mirror" "Buy Golf Cart Tail Lights" ect.  Make notes of every store that appears in the search with their price for the part.  Do the same on eBay and Amazon.  Want to know about how much they are paying for their part?  Simply call up the store and ask to buy a large order.  Say that you want to buy a thousand of the mirrors and ask them what is the best price they can give you.  The point here is to start making a detailed list of your competition.  Keep tabs on them.  Subscribe to their email lists.  Befriend them on any social network they are on.  If they start running a special on something that you sale, you need to be aware of it.  Know your competition.

2.  Do what they do, but do it better

• Is your competition on Twitter or Facebook?  If so, great!  Send friend requests to every single one of their fans.  BE SURE you have your site ready with a promotion that out hustles your competition before you go on a new friend binge.  If you sell tourism packages to Australia, make sure that your package is not only cheaper than the competition, but also offers better and more distinct features.  You need to tell your new "friends" about your fantastic opportunity with an enticing message that elaborates the exciting offer which is SO much better than the other guys.  The trick here is not to directly mention your competition.  Just offer your products at a lower rate with a limited time offer.  Make your offer better than your competition.

3.  The hustle begins and ends with you.

• The most powerful word in the English language is YOU.  The word YOU engages the imagination of the listener.  Skillful use of the word YOU places your potential customers in an environment that you create.  Make your offers personal, remind your customers why they want to have what you sell.
  
  
  
  • "You can take a trip to the most romantic outback known to man.  Your loved ones will be overcome with sheer joy and excitement in the most fascinating and luxurious trip that you have ever provided.  Call Australian Safari Guide Today for 50% Off by mentioning this message:  You Are Amazing"
  
  
  
  

It is all in attitude and effort.  You will have a fighting chance in this world of e-commerce when you:

1. Have a winning attitude that never gives in to failure


2. Always see opportunity to improve upon losses


3. Never give up no matter how dire things may get


4. Believe YOU can out hustle your competition

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The below list is a short and sweet step by step guide that explains how to do Keyword Research for Search Engine Optimization.  The list is explained in a 3 Part Series on Keyword Research.  I encourage you to read each article:

Part 1 of Exotic SEO Keyword Research

Part 2 of Exotic SEO Keyword Research

Part 3 of Exotic SEO Keyword Research


1. Brainstorm a list of keywords and keyword phrases a person may type in to find your website.  Remember to be specific.

2. Go to Google AdWords and create an account.

3. Go to Google's Keyword Tool and enter your list of brainstormed keywords and keyword phrases.  Narrow down the list of keywords generated in this report to be specific to your industry by selecting the categories most relevant to your business.

4. Export the generated list to an Excel spreadsheet.  Create two new columns next to your keywords.  The first will be named "Keyword Difficulty" and the second column will be named "# of Google Search Results".  This second column is optional but helpful when determining which keywords to focus on.

5. Go to Google.com and utilize the Related Search tool to create more keywords based on your initial list generated from Google AdWords Keyword Tool.  Copy and Paste all new keyword ideas into your Excel spreadsheet under your initial list generated from the Keyword Tool.  Remember to document the number of Google Search Results for each keyword if this seems viable to you.

6. Take your final list of keywords to the Keyword Difficulty Tool powered by SEOchat.com.  Copy and paste each percentage into your spreadsheet.

7. Sort your spreadsheet by the Keyword Difficulty column with the smallest percentage first.  Pick 10-15 keywords between 0% and 35%.  Pick 5-10 keywords between 35% and 50%.  Pick 1-5 keywords between 50% and 70%.

8. Congratulations!!  You have completed your keyword research and now have an optimized list ready for search engine optimization!

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In Part 2 of Exotic SEO Keyword Research we discussed how to fully develop a great keyword list by first brainstorming and then utilizing free online keyword research tools such as Google AdWords Keyword Tool, Google Related Searches accessible through Google.com and the Keyword Difficulty checker powered by SEOchat.com.  This final part of the series will explain how to interpret all of the data you just compiled and help you focus on picking the optimal keywords for SEO success.  If you have not viewed Parts 1 and Part 2, I encourage you to do that now.

This final step of keyword research requires you to analyze your data and determine a list of 25 - 50 keywords that you are going to actively focus on achieving rankings for on search engine page results.

Think of your website as a garden and your keywords as your seeds that will grow into bountiful produce.  Easier keywords will grow faster than Medium and Hard keywords!

( Yes, this is my actual garden!!  Please click to enlarge)

The first step in creating a garden is tilling the soil (creating your website structure) and the next is determining what you are going to plant (your keywords).  Like any successful garden, you will have to regularly maintain and water it to achieve optimal results.  Tips and advice for maintaining your keyword garden will be explained in detail in a future post on E-Commerce Inbound Marketing -- so be sure to check back often!

Below are the final steps to complete your keyword research:

1. Open your excel spreadsheet of your keyword list and sort the data based on the column Keyword Difficulty.  You will want to sort your data from the lowest percentage to the highest.  The lower the percentage, the more likely you are able to achieve a first Search Engine Results Page (SERP).

2. Pick 10 - 15 keywords or keyword phrases in the range between 0% and 35%.  These keywords are going to be labeled your Easier Keywords to achieve rankings for, so you will want to put a great deal of focus and care picking these.  Make sure that these keywords or keyword phrases are highly relevant to your business and you are comfortable with your selection.  You are going to be using these keywords alot on all your content throughout your website.

3. Pick 5 -10 keywords or keyword phrases in the range between 35% and 50%.  These keywords are going to be labeled your Medium Keyword to achieve rankings for in search engines.  These keywords are harder to obtain than the Easier Keywords, and more than likely will be a bit broader.   You will not immediately rank for these keywords.  It may even take 6 months to a year or more to achieve viable rankings for these Medium Keywords, but starting your focus now will lead to quicker growth.

4. Pick 1 -5 keywords or keyword phrases in the range between 50% and 70%.  You do not want to go over 70% because you realistically have no chance of ranking for these keywords without several years of intense link building and other SEO practices.  You will even have a hard time ranking for the ones you select.  This is the cold reality of search engine optimization.  The realm of internet searches is a fierce field and only the strong survive!  So why are you even picking 1-5 of these hard to rank for keywords?  Because you want to plant the seeds for these keywords and keyword phrases so in a couple of years, after you have successfully maintained your your SEO garden and produced several years worth of delicious keyword rankings, you will eventually start to see these keywords sprout and your garden expand exponentially!

Congratulations!!  You have now completed your SEO Keyword Research and have an optimized list of keywords that you will use in making your website achieve high SERP'S!!

Check back to E-Commerce Inbound Marketing Blog or Subscribe to the RSS Feed to be on the look out for a future article detailing strategies and advice on how to implement your keywords for optimal success.

As promised, here is a short and sweet step by step guide on how to do Keyword Research for SEO:

CLICK HERE TO VISIT STEP BY STEP GUIDE ON KEYWORD RESEARCH FOR SEO.

Again, be sure to check back to the E-Commerce Inbound Marketing Blog often for tips and tricks on how to utilize your keywords for search engine success!!

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As discussed previously, the first step toward keyword research is brainstorming on your own. You should make a list of as many keywords as you can think of that a user might type into a search engine to find your website.  Try to be specific.  So instead of the keyword phrase "tennis lessons" you may want to try "(Your City) tennis lessons".

Once you have your list of keywords, and I suggest at least 25 +, you will want to start utilizing some web tools available to help you with keyword discovery.

There are a large variety of keyword research tools available on the internet today, and it can be difficult wading through the masses to find the best tools available.  Simply do a Google Search for "keyword research tools" and you will see 26,000,000 results!!  Many of these sites will lead you to either free or pay for services. If you are just launching a website, you are probably on a budget and free sounds pretty good.  I am going to focus on the Free Tools.

One of the best free keyword discovery tools for brand new websites that have no idea where to start is Google AdWords Keyword Tool.  I realize that Google AdWords is a Search Engine Marketing service, but, if used correctly and in conjunction with several other tools, it can also be a very useful keyword discovery tool for Search Engine Optimization as well.  Here is how:

1. The first step you will want to take in order to fully utilize Google's free keyword discovery tools, is to sign up for a Google AdWords Account.  Setting up an account is completely free and leaves you in no obligation to pay any fees to Google unless you authorize a campaign to start.

Once you have setup your account, you will want to setup your first campaign.  Please keep in mind that you are setting up this account for keyword discovery, but can turn this campaign on at anytime you feel comfortable and ready to start a Search Engine Marketing (SEM) campaign.  Setting up your first campaign for keyword research is optional, but highly suggested.  If you have any trouble setting up this campaign or would just like to discuss some optimization tips, please contact me!  I am a certified professional in Google Advertising.

2. After you setup your AdWords account, go to the Google Keyword Tool Page and take a look around.  Notice there is a box for your keywords and one for your website.  Go ahead and copy your initial list of 25+ keywords that you developed through brainstorming into the keywords box.  Next, type in the name of your website into the website box.  Now, click on the Advanced options tab to see more options.  You will see language, country, and mobile search options.  If you operate an international business, it may be useful to target those countries that you think relevant.  The same goes with language.  I suggest clicking the mobile search tab because of the rapid trend in mobile web use.  You want to target as many potential customers as possible, do not limit your range by forgetting about mobile searches.

The next two options are regarding how Google will filter your keyword list.  For your keyword discovery, you will want to Show Results for "All Keyword Ideas".  The next is a filter field that you may want to use if you have a predetermined set of keywords that you would like to exclude from your search.

Once you have all of the fields entered correctly and to your liking, click the Search Button.  You will see a large list of keywords generated.  Note, if you are not signed into an AdWords account, Google will only show you 100 keyword ideas.  This is why it was important that you first setup a Google AdWords account.

I entered in the 50 keywords that I developed from Ashley's initial list which you can view in Part 1.  Here is a screenshot of what Google gave me when I clicked Search:

(click to enlarge)

Notice how there are categories on the left that you can click on to target your specific area of business.  For Ashley's business, I selected Travel and Tourism.  This narrowed down my list to about 300 keywords from an initial 500.  The next step is to click the Download button and export this list to CSV for Excel.  This exports a great amount of very useful data wonderful for SEO including Global Monthly Searches and Local Monthly Searches in addition to a wealth of great information for Search Engine Marketing for when I am ready to launch that campaign. Remember, the Google Keyword Tool generates a report that is meant for Search Engine Marketing, not for Search Engine Optimization.  You will need to take several more steps in order to really define a great keyword list for SEO.

3. So there are a few more important steps that I suggest you take to both refine and expand your keyword research at the same time.  These steps will include you taking your Google AdWords generated keyword list and analyzing each one for Keyword Difficulty and exploring the options that Google Search Engine will give you for individual keywords via the  Google Related Searches Tool.

First though, lets add a couple of columns next to your keywords in the Excel program.  Name the first column Keyword Difficulty and the second column # of Google Results.

Now that you have your spreadsheet setup correctly, lets head over to Google.com and take advantage of the Related Searches tool.

1.   Enter your first keyword into Google.com and click Search
2.  Click the link that says "+ Show Options ..." directly below the search box
3.  Scroll down and click the link on the left side of the page that says "Related Searches"
4. You will now see a list of Related Searches to your keyword that you entered.  Copy and paste any that you find relevant into your Excel spreadsheet at the bottom of your keyword list.  Be sure to highlight the first row of your new keywords you found through Google Search so you can see the results of your labor.
5. Jot down the number of Google Page Results in your spreadsheet for each keyword.  This is an optional step, but can be helpful in gauging the competition.
6. If you see a term that you think relevant, click it and you will see that you now have a new search results page showing the results of that keyword or keyword phrase.  You will also have the option of click a link that says "More Like This"
7. Click the Link "More Like This" and you will see a new grouping of keywords related to that keyword or keyword phrase you just clicked on.  Copy and paste any relevant keywords into your spreadsheet.
8. Repeat this process until you have entered every keyword on your spreadsheet and have developed a substantial keyword list.
9. Have fun with this process.  You will discover many different keywords and phrases that can lead to alternate ways you can market your business!

Below is a snap shot of what the Related Search results will give you.  Notice the arrow pointing to the link "More Like This":

(click to enlarge)

4. The next step in this process involves checking the difficulty of obtaining a first page ranking for your keywords once you have completed this portion of the keyword research.   Checking the difficulty of obtaining a first page ranking in major search engines will help assess which keywords you will focus on for your website.  Here are the steps to do this:

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Keyword research is the one of the most important first steps that must be taken for e-commerce or consumer facing websites to become visible on major search engines, the first step towards search engine optimization (SEO).  Keyword Research can be a daunting task, but can be fun and exciting with the right tools and direction.  Many times you will even find alternative ways to market your business and untapped opportunities you can focus on to increase your offerings through the process of Keyword Research.

My friend Ashley Barnes recently contacted me through social media and asked for advice on how to do keyword research.  She is launching a tourism business in Buenos Aires and knows that "this online marketing thing is important, but don't know where to start."  Many small and medium size businesses are in the same boat as Ashley... they know that keyword research is important but have no idea where to start.

I have decided to help the people in the boat of keyword research confusion.  I feel that the best way to explain this process is through example.  So I have taken on the task of completing keyword research for Ashley's brand new website, www.entreargentinatours.com and am outlining the steps below.  Please use this as a reference for your own keyword discovery.

The first step in Keyword Research is Keyword Discovery, and the best way to start your discovery is to brainstorm all of the possible words a person might use to find your site through a search engine.

I asked Ashley to start the brainstorming process by compiling as many keywords as she could think of for her business.  I told her to think of any keywords that her customers might type into a search engine to find her site.  Remember that her site is brand new, so she has no analytical data to interpret her top performing keywords.  If you are reading this article and have not started keyword research for your website, I encourage you to go ahead and brainstorm your own list.

This is the initial list Ashley sent me:

Package tours Argentina

Customized tours Buenos Aires and Argentina

Special interest tours

Art, Wine, and Food tours

socially conscience tourism

Argentina travel

Mendoza

Salta

Buenos Aires

Bariloche

Vineyards

Restaurants

Local Artist

Palermo

Boutique hotels

Responsible Tourism

support local businesses

create your own tour

wine country

Hotels

guided tours

transportation

local cuisine and restaurants

Latin America tours

This list is an OK start, but needed a little bit of help before starting.  Notice terms like “Art, Wine, and Food tours”.  This term is way too broad and would do no help for her without some focus.  This term should be expanded to: “Beunos Aires Art Tours” “Beunos Aires Wine Tours” “Beunos Aires Food Tours”.  Also terms like "Mendoza" should be more specific like "Mendoza tours".

Take a look at your own keyword list.  Do you have any broad terms that can be more focused?

I revised Ashley’s initial list to resolve these terms and came up with this list:

Package tours Argentina

Package tours Buenos Aires

Customized tours Buenos Aires Argentina

Customized tours Argentina

Special interest tours

socially conscience tourism

Argentina travel

Buenos Aires travel

Mendoza tours

Salta tours

Buenos Aires tours

Argentina tours

Bariloche

Buenos Aires Vineyards

Buenos Aires Restaurants

Beunos Aires Local Artist

Argentina Vineyards

Argentina Restaurants

Argentina Local Artist

Palermo

Boutique hotels

Responsible Tourism

support local Buenos Aires businesses

Buenos Aires create your own tour

Buenos Aires wine country

Buenos Aires Hotels

Buenos Aires guided tours

Buenos Aires transportation

Buenos Aires local cuisine and restaurants

support local Argentina businesses

Argentina create your own tour

Argentina wine country

Argentina Hotels

Argentina guided tours

Argentina transportation

Argentina local cuisine and restaurants

Latin America tours

Buenos Aires Art Tours

Buenos Aires Food Tours

Buenos Aires Wine Tours

Buenos Aires Art Tour

Buenos Aires Food Tour

Buenos Aires Wine Tour

Argentina Art Tours

Argentina Food Tours

Argentina Wine Tours

Argentina Art Tour

Argentina Food Tour

Argentina Wine Tour

This list is not perfect, but good enough for us to start utilizing web tools for keyword discovery.  Notice how our keyword list just went from 25 to 50 just by focusing search terms to become more specific.  I encourage you to do the same before utilizing web tools for optimal results.

Continue reading Part 2 of Exotic Keyword Research focusing on Utilizing Keyword Discovery Tools to find out what to do next! Read More

A consumer facing e-commerce store is one that deals directly with people who buy a product or service.  Let me emphasize the important part:  A store that DEALS DIRECTLY with PEOPLE who buy a product or service.  Is your e-commerce store really dealing directly with people who buy your products or services?  Are you involved in daily conversations with current and potential clients and customers?  Are you responding to questions, complaints and comments from your customers and the social media communities within minutes, hours or days?  Days of lag between communication just will not cut it in today's social world.  Customers or clients will move to your competitors in a heartbeat, and if they are prepared, you are sunk.

Put simply, if you are not engaging in timely manners across many social media platforms, your company will be crushed by the tsunami of social media.  The waves of social media have been building for the past 10 years, and have grown to monster size in 2010.  If your consumer facing website is not riding the wave, you are going to be crushed by it.  You are putting yourself at a great risk of becoming swallowed by the oncoming tsunami and losing the title of a Consumer Facing Store and replacing it with a title of just Consumer Store.  The world of online shopping is rapidly moving and you need to ensure that you optimize your online store for the social media revolution.

Here is how to do it:

1. MAKE A LIST of every social media platform that you can think of, then look at the Conversation Prism by Brian Solis and JESS3 to see exactly how well you matched up.



Chances are, at this very moment, you either have seen this great piece of information many times before OR you are extraordinarily overwhelmed -- but don't worry if you fall into the latter category, this is completely normal and you now have the opportunity learn about more than just facebook and twitter.

Brian Solis and JESS3 keenly researched every facet of social media and organized it into a prism that will serve your e-commerce store as an incredibly useful tool for many years to come.

Closely study the conversation prism and jot down every social media outlet that you think your customers may be involved in.  Your list should consist of at least 5 outlets.

2.  MAKE A GAME PLAN based on your list of social media outlets where your customers will be present.  The first thing you need to do is rank the importance or chance of your customers being present in each social media outlet from 1 – 100.  Start at the top of your list with number one and write a date and time slot that you are going to dedicate to this media outlet.  You should dedicate at least an hour to each network.  Within your dedicated time slot, you should focus on accomplishing and documenting the following steps:

• Setting up an account


• Optimizing your bio


• Exploring the community freely


• Searching the community and community discussions for
  
  
  
  • Your Company Name
  
  
  • Your Focused Keywords
  
  
  • Discussions Regarding Your Industry
  
  
  • Your Competitors
  
  
  
  


• Finding tools to utilize and engage with the selected social media network

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E-Commerce Inbound Marketing is the (1) process and practice of creating remarkable content and (2) getting others to find and remark on that content by engaging in online communities with the (3) goal of getting users from those communities to visit your store and purchase your products.   Let’s dissect this definition by looking at the most relevant points.

1. Create Remarkable Content. The most important element of inbound marketing is remarkable content.  There is so much information on the internet today that most people have trouble wadding through their email!   You have to make your content really stand out from the competition in order to be seen by others.  One way to create remarkable content for an e-commerce store is by promoting a special special sale or contest that makes people say, "Wow, that's a great deal!" or "That's a really cool idea" or "All I have to do is signup and they give me ______?  Great, where do I signup?"  If you are not running online promotions and specials on at least a monthly basis, you are not operating your e-business properly.  You need to hire an e-commerce inbound marketer as soon as possible to get your marketing campaign off the ground the right away.  Visit Harry Joiner at Ecommercejobs.com for the ultimate talent in the marketplace today.   Harry is the leader in e-commerce talent and is very connected to the best of the best in the e-commerce sphere.  If you are looking to hire, Contact Harry first.

2.  Get Others To Find Your Remarkable Content – Engage In The Conversation! One of the most accessible ways to get others to find your content is to engage in the conversation of your customers. Brian Solis of FutureWorks, and owner of the blog bub.blicio.us and PR2.0, perfectly explains the importance and fantastic opportunity we have of being able to actively engage in online communities.  Read what he has to say on the subject  in the book Inbound Marketing:  Get Found Using Google, Social Media, and Blogs by Brian Halligan (the CEO and Founder of Hubspot -- yes, Mr. Halligan is an expert and someone you should start following if you have even the slightest interest in marketing!):

"In the social web, we are presented with a privilege to establish meaningful dialogue and collaborative relationships with the people who define our markets.  This is an incredible opportunity to establish relevance and discoverability.  Remember, consumers have choices.  We're not part of those decisions where we're not present.  Inbound marketing serves as the bridge between those seeking information, direction and insight and those willing to provide guidance and support."

- excerpt from Brian Solis in the book Inbound Marketing:  Get Found Using Google, Social Media, and Blogs by Brian Halligan

Mr. Solis illustrates one of the often forgotten, yet vital points of the online shopping experience,  "Consumers have choices.  We're not part of those decisions where we're not present." Take a look at the company Home Depot's Twitter Page. Home Depot is a brilliant company, and operates like one.  Just yesterday, April 11th 2010, the first message I read on Home Depot's Main Twitter Feed is a direct message to a customer davidwherry.  They noticed that David posted a tweet saying, "Wow, this Home Depot is full of inefficiency. They have a 'price book' that have pics of products, but no SKU or price. #fail"  Home Depot took the initiative and contacted David within 24 hours to see if he had resolved his problem.  Although this message may or may not have solved David's problem, it shows David, and every one of Home Depot's 21,000+ twitter followers, that they care about their customers and will respond to you if you have a problem.

Home Depot is displaying a brilliant example of inbound marketing in action by engaging in the conversation and acting as “the bridge between those seeking information, direction and insight.”  Don’t think that online presence, and thus online sales, is important to one of the most popular brick and mortar stores in the country?  Why don’t you read about their new website redesign and product philosophy sphere-headed by Online President Hal Lawton in the article written by Rachel Tobin Ramos in the AJC this past Saturday April 10^th, 2010.   READ IT HERE

3. Obtain New Customers From Social Media. Another way to create remarkable content AND to obtain new customers is to encourage your community to engage YOU through the social media sphere.  This is a tough practice and will not happen overnight.  But you can start today by engaging your customers and inviting them to participate in conversations, sales, promotions and contests.  The most popular and easiest way to do this today is via twitter and/or facebook.  One shining example of a company that is utilizing twitter for promotions is Chic-Fil-A.  Looking at their twitter feed, I immediately see a great promotion.  The promotion tells people to take a picture of themselves drinking a peach milkshake.  The first 10 people to send in this picture get a free milkshake.  Great idea!  This promotion not only offers value to their customers, it gets their customers to purchase a product AND actively engage with the Chic-Fil-A Brand.  Chic-Fil-A understands the essence of social networking and inbound marketing.  Are you following suit?

The way of marketing is changing from interruption marketing (outbound marketing) and is being replaced with viral social marketing (inbound marketing).  With every passing day, more and more people are relying on their friends and even strangers’ opinions and comments to make their decision to purchase a product.

This trend is going to continue and you need to make sure you can take advantage of it.  Get started today...  It’s as Easy As 1, 2, 3! Read More

Automated Content Curation is one of the cheapest ways of "creating" content known to the geeky man.  This automated process of stealing other content creators work, publishing their summaries (or first couple of intriguing paragraphs) and then promoting your website with their articles on it is down right wrong and should get you Blacklisted on Google.

Publishing and promoting others content on your website to make yourself seem more authoritative on a subject is smelly.  Like gym socks smelly.  Rubbed on a wet dog and then gnawed on by a stray cat. If you are into that kind of thing, check out Curata.

Curata will "curate" all of the stories from other hard working content creators that actually have meaningful things to say, and post their articles on your website in summary form.  According to Curata, this makes you look like a "thought leader in your industry and will help improve your organic search engine rankings".  I have asked several representatives of Curata how this helps improve organic search, but have had no answer.  My guess is that they assume people will link to your summary of the original content creators work that is hosted on your website.  Giving you the inbound link and screwing the content creator out of any SEO juice.  Way to go "thought leader."

There are content curation systems that do work, like www.alltop.com.  But alltop.com actually spends time and writes their own summary for articles.  They hire a staff of human writers to write their own summaries of each article that they link to and publish.  I'm willing to bet that it takes them more than 19 minutes a day to build their presence.   This is the process of human curation.  Which, although I am still not a huge fan of, is way better than automated content curation.

To summarize:

If you are using an automated content curation system to promote your website and make your brand look like a thought leader, you should probably either start praying to internet gods or start putting some human touch behind your curtaion practices.

Creating remarkable content and becoming a thought leader in an industry doesn't happen in 19 minutes a day.  It happens over time with a dedicated content creation strategy fueled by social media engagement.

If you must engage in content curation, please first make sure that you do it manually, request the permission of the article authors, and frequently promote the other authors in your social media channels.  After all, you owe everything to them because without em, you got nothing.

Photo credit:  county_boy_shane Read More