Internet Marketing | David Chan

Reputation Management Is More Important Than Ever

April 2nd, 2011 By DavidChan Leave a Comment

Free Reputation Management Seminar by David Chan of ADPublishing.org on April 6th, 2011, UC Davis Hart Hall, Room 1150.

Reputation management is more important than ever these days because of the amount of information available on the Internet. This is true for both individuals as well as large and small companies. Consider some of these staggering statistics and you’ll quickly realize that trying to manage what you have posted or what others have posted about you can easily become overwhelming. There are over 1.8 billion global Internet users, 200 million blogs, 600+ million Facebook users, 5 billion+ images, and over 1 billion videos being served up YouTube every day.

What are some of the ways that your reputation can be compromised? Let’s take a simple example of something you might have posted on Facebook and did not set your privacy filters correctly. Perhaps one day you went out on a date or with a client and things did not go well. In frustration you decide to post a comment on your wall that was disparaging to your date or the client. Every person who is your friend on Facebook or likes your fan page (if you have one) will immediately be able to see your pos. This seemingly innocent post could easily be propagated to people you don’t know or directly to the client for your date. It’s not too hard to see how damaging this could be to your reputation.

Another example of reputation management has to do with images posted on the Internet. You may be posting images to sites such as Flickr, Facebook or even other “open” blog sites. Without realizing it, these images could easily have been tagged with your name. Compounding this problem is that others could also be uploading images that are tagged with your name. All of these images are indexed by the major search engines and can very well be “served up” when your name or company name is entered into the search bar. Imagine that some of the images were not too flattering or even downright disparaging.

You can extrapolate that potential problem even further to include videos that are posted on YouTube, Vimeo, and other video sharing sites. And, what about people who might be blogging about you or your company without your knowledge? This happens every day. It’s called freedom of speech. The problem is exacerbated by the fact that what’s up on the Internet stays on the Internet – good and bad. There are, of course, rare instances when posts / images are taken down and de-indexed, but the damage has already been done.

One of the fastest growing sectors of marketing is online reputation management. There are a number of ways to monitor what is being said about you and your company. And, there are also many ways in which to protect your “brand equity.” Make sure you consider what you are posting before pressing “enter.” At the end of the day, you are what people “perceive” about you based on what they discover online.

Filed Under: reputation management Tagged With: ad publishing, adpublishing.org, david chan, internet marketing, reputation management

Best Small Business Marketing Strategies for Today

June 27th, 2010 By DavidChan Leave a Comment

Some of the best small business marketing strategies are those that have been utilized for years. They include the standard practices, such as: networking with business associates, joining your local Chamber of Commerce, guerrilla marketing, advertising and cold calling. Increasingly, though, small businesses are using new techniques and methodologies that leverage the Internet. Consider that there are over 34,000 searches per second on Google. Consumers search for everything including research information, how to source and buy products and much more. It’s been estimated that fully 20% of these searches are for a local type listing, e.g. finding a business in a local region, county, or city.

By utilizing widely available Internet tools and services small business owners can market to new and existing customers in ways not available in the past. Traditionally, products were marketed through newspaper ads and classifieds, yellow pages and even radio spot and TV commercials. Generally these marketing mediums are called “offline” marketing. Tracking offline marketing campaigns were difficult and often downright impossible. There was really no “direct” way of measuring success, except through surveys and inserting ad response codes. One of the problems is that people forget ad response codes and surveys do have a high percentage of related errors.

New Internet / online small business marketing strategies incorporate such concepts as social networks, online PR and the newly renamed Google Places. Let’s dissect these strategies to see how they fit within any small business’ overall marketing campaigns.

Google Places is essentially a local listing within your demographic area, whether it is a county, city or borough. With Google places, small businesses can list their company utilizing words that people type into Google search when looking for a service or product. For example, when someone searches for a “tailor” in Manhattan, New York, Google would serve up a list of tailors in that area. These listings appear even before the traditional top 10 organic listings that Google services us. It’s imperative to understand how to utilize Google Places in order to maximize your potential customers.

Online social networking complements offline networking with business associates. Think of online social networking as joining your local Chamber of Commerce or socializing at the office water cooler. Through online social networks, such as Facebook, Linkedin, and MySpace, small businesses can reach out to many more potential customers than they could ever have achieved through using offline networking avenues alone. Learning how to navigate these online social networks is critical to reaching new customers, as well as maintaining existing ones.

Small business marketing strategies should also include online PR. Small businesses are used to guerrilla type marketing. Think of online PR as another way of getting your message across to your market through free and cheap publicity. Generally there is a section in newspapers and magazines for announcements, such as a staff promotion, a new product, education and things like new partnerships. By issuing an online press release, you can reach thousands of viewers without alienating them through a “sales” pitch. Press releases are generally viewed positively and “trustworthy” by consumers.

Incorporating these new marketing strategies will help small business owners maintain their market position, as well as grab new markets. This is especially true during this period of transition as offline marketing reach through print, radio and TV declines and gives way to online marketing through the Internet and mobile devices.

Small Business Opportunities Powering America

November 24th, 2009 By DavidChan 1 Comment

Small business opportunities are really shaping the new American economy. Small businesses have always been a driving force in America, but it seems to be even more so today. Perhaps I’m more keenly aware of small businesses, since I’ve owned and operated a number of them over the last 20 years. But, I sense a sea change in both sentiment and desire.

According to the US Census Bureau, there are now roughly 28 million small businesses in the US. A small business is defined as a company that has less than 500 employees. Of these small businesses, the bulk of them, about 22 million, are identified as single person businesses with no employees. And, the total gross receipts are staggering … $992 Billion in 2007.

I believe small business opportunities are growing because of several factors: the state of the economic recession, obvious unemployment issues and the fact that there are many more resources available to the small business than ever before. Much of this is driven by the ubiquity and availability of downright cheap technology.

For example, when I bought my first computer, many “generations ago” …, it cost me $6,000. Forget about Internet connectivity, think dial up (barely), and 16 KB, not GB, of RAM. These are dinosaur terms to emphasize a point. Today, a Dell Net Book can be had for $184 after rebate, Internet connection for 20 bucks a month, and a phone service with unlimited calling for as little as $19 / year.

How can you beat this type of setup when it comes to building small business opportunities, especially out of your home? My company is the epitome of a small virtual business. We are 10 people small and we all work out of our homes. The technology that we’ve implemented allows us to be linked together through a virtual PBX system, project management software, instant messaging, online meetings and much more.

Many of the tools that we use are free, some are unbelievably cheap. For example, a virtual PBX with unlimited minutes for $49.99 a month! This system gives us 10 extensions, so that our clients only need to call one 800 number to access any one of our team members. In the “old days” this would have cost us thousands of dollars and would have needed to be installed in a physical location. There’s nothing to install or download here, baby!

So, what are the top 10 online small business opportunities fueling my imagination? If you can wrap your arms around the term virtual, the ideas are limitless. My top 10:

Virtual Assistants – So much work, so little time. Virtual Assistants “free up your day,” as one of my colleagues in the business likes to say.
Internet Marketing – Think Google search and you’ll know what I mean. Companies are moving their marketing dollars in DROVES to the Internet. Print, Radio and TV are dying breeds.
Answering Services – You can’t always be in two places at the same time. Set up your own Virtual PBX, cultivate some clients and answer their calls for them.
Online Researcher – The Internet is a wealth of information. But, you still need time to sift through the dirt to find the gold. Turn your curious nature into a saleable asset.
Internet Broker – This business is as old as eBay. People want to buy and others want to sell. But, some are technology “challenged.” They just don’t know how to sell anything, let alone on eBay.
Stock Up! – The Internet’s appetite for online “stock” content is voracious. Think 300 million websites. They all need some type of photo, video or graphic. And, there are plenty of sites to sell your passion.
Creative Services – If you’re a photographer, videographer, graphic artist, hobbyist or professional, move your attention to Internet. Linked with #6, the need for QUALITY work is exploding.
Freelance Writing – Coupled with the explosive nature of the Internet, blogging is as hot as it gets. No, not about your kids’ latest soccer game, but serious ghost writing for individuals and companies.
Expense Reduction Manager – Everybody’s looking for a deal these days. And, they’re everywhere. Some people just don’t know where to look.
And, my all time favorite – Personal Shopper – I threw this one in for fun. “Back in the day”, people paid good money for others to shop for them.

Let’s just hope that legislation on AFFORDABLE health care, doesn’t rain on our parade!