Archive for the ‘Marketing’ Category
Sunday, March 27th, 2011
Many small to medium business owners ask me how to get their “brand” “out there more.” There is no single trick or formula that applies to every business, because different markets and demographics respond in different ways. Trends are important factors; so is the economy. When focusing on your brand marketing, you must be open to new things, and expect a learning curve to overcome. The point is: be flexible.
You “brand” your company by having your logo and “mission statement” in as many channels as possible. Linked In, Facebook, your website, Youtube (if you are going to do lots of video, which I recommend), postcards, stationery, etc. The process of “branding” is nothing more than “stamping” your logo and mission statement on everything that you do, much like ranchers do with their livestock. Think of it this way: if a rancher branded his livestock, and then sold them off to dozens of other ranchers, those other ranchers will think about the first rancher that they got the livestock from. It would serve as a continual visual reminder of where the livestock came from. (more…)
Tags: Advertising, logo branding
Posted in Advertising, Brand Marketing, Marketing | 2 Comments »
Thursday, January 27th, 2011
SEO, search engine optimization and Internet marketing…all of these terms are now common place terms with business owners that know nothing about any of it. They just know that they need it if they’re going to expand their business online and generate more leads and sales from their website(s), which is exactly what their website should be doing—working for you while you focus on the important operational aspects of your organization.
Search engine optimization and Internet marketing are tasks best handled by a professional or by a team of professionals. In the same way a web design or Internet marketing firm wouldn’t interfere with the daily operations of your business, you, as a business owner, should focus on your strengths to lead your company in the right direction, and bring on a web design firm like Innovated Media to assist in areas that we specialize in such as maximizing your influence online. (more…)
Tags: Innovated Media, Internet Marketing, search engine optimization, search engine placement, SEO, Tulsa Internet Marketing, Web Design, WordPress
Posted in Direct Mail, Keyword Use, Marketing, Online Marketing, SEO, Web Design, WordPress | No Comments »
Tuesday, November 16th, 2010
In the last year, here in Tulsa, WalMart has been moving some stuff around. Okay, they’ve moved everything around! The entire layout of the store has changed. The groceries are still on the same side and the retail remains on the left side of the store, but all of the isles are different. You could almost feel the frustration in everyone’s tone while they searched isles and couldn’t find what they were looking for.
WalMart had a reason for doing what they did – I hope! I can only imagine how much time and research dollars went into setting new goals, testing and exploring new layouts, finding which stores to use in testing, estimating how much change was required to bring about a desired end-result, and finding local contractors to do the work (some construction was involved in the WalMart by my apartment). (more…)
Tags: Advertising, Innovated Media, Internet Marketing, Marketing, Online Marketing, search engine optimization, SEO, Social Media Marketing, Tulsa Internet Marketing
Posted in Local Search, Marketing, Online Marketing, Online Video, SEO, Social Media Marketing | No Comments »
Sunday, July 11th, 2010
What things should you, as a business owner, look for in a company that has promised you online success? With our economy the way that it is, business owners have to get smarter and look for this type of help when it’s not feasible to have someone in house do it all (which would be ideal). So what do you look for? There are many talented 1-man shows out there that know what they are doing, and there are large firms that can do the very same. (more…)
Tags: Advertising, business promotion, demographics, economy, Innovated Media, Marketing, Online Marketing, Tulsa web design, Web Design
Posted in Advertising, Marketing, Online Marketing, SEM, SEO, Web Design | 1 Comment »
Monday, July 5th, 2010
Why do you have a website? If your primary reason for having a website is simply because your competitors have a website and you feel like not having one will hurt your business, then I’m willing to bet that you haven’t updated your website in weeks or even months. Mr. Business Owner, this is doing you more harm than good. Your website is a sales tool, and quite frankly, one of the most powerful ones that you’ll ever have. Gone are the days of having a website and not updating it for weeks and months. Not OKAY! You may not see this because you are still thinking about the good ‘old days of direct mail marketing where you got a 4% return one year on a direct mail piece that you really liked. Woopty-freakin-do. Or, maybe you are in a service-related industry that involves some door to door sales so you rely on your sales force to hit the sidewalks to drum up some new leads. (more…)
Tags: Advertising, business promotion, Innovated Media, Internet Marketing, Marketing, Tulsa Internet Marketing, Web Design
Posted in Advertising, Marketing, Online Marketing, Web Design | No Comments »
Saturday, July 3rd, 2010
Many small businesses do not have an advertising budget for what I believe to be a few reasons. It’s not that they don’t advertise, but they just don’t know how much they should spend on advertising and online marketing. The sad truth is that in order to go from a small business to a medium sized business, you’ve got to have some knowledge of these things. In order for you to be a successful medium size business that outperforms your competitors, you’ve got to know exactly how much you can spend, and how much you should spend. (more…)
Tags: Advertising, Google, Internet Marketing, Online Marketing, search engine optimization, search engine placement, SEO, Tulsa Internet Marketing
Posted in Advertising, Local Search, Marketing, Online Marketing, Online Video, SEM, SEO, Social Media, Social Media Marketing, Video Production, Web Design | No Comments »
Thursday, June 24th, 2010
Why is it so hard to sit down in front of a blank screen and write an article to upload to the website? Your heart rate speeds up, your palms get sweaty, you can think of a million other things to do at that moment instead of sitting there feeling this way. Yet, we can discuss and debate the benefits of our service till the person we’re talking to has to fake a heart attack just to excuse them from the conversation.
It a hard thing to brainstorm ideas. To write, speak, or perform in front of a computer or camera is unproductive and time-consuming. The client or customer needs your service so why do you have to sit here and make yourself uncomfortable writing or recording content. (more…)
Tags: business promotion, Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Tulsa Content Development, Tulsa Internet Marketing, writing content for the web
Posted in Advertising, Blogging, Design, Direct Mail, E-mail, E-mail Marketing, Marketing, Online Marketing, Online Reviews, Social Media, Social Media Marketing, Web Design | No Comments »
Saturday, May 1st, 2010
I must admit that I was slow to jump into social media. A large part of me didn’t want to reconnect with my past – I knew that if I did get into it, I would purposefully use it as a tool and not a time waster. It wasn’t long before it proved to be a very effective way for me to be in front of thousands of people that would probably never Google us or go to our website.
Social media marketing is all about finding ways to bring content directly to the end user instead of finding ways to get them to search for it or solely relying upon people that would look for you anyway. It is awesome! I know for a fact that there are companies that are not taking advantage of social media to extend the brand of their products and services or to create leads or sales. At the VERY LEAST use it as a tool to change the way that you communicate with your CURRENT CUSTOMERS! I don’t even think a smart business owner should have to waste time trying to justify the usage of social media integration for company marketing for this simple reason: your customers are using social media to communicate with everyone. (more…)
Tags: business promotion, Innovated Media, Online Marketing, social media communication, Social Media Marketing, Tulsa Internet Marketing
Posted in Advertising, Marketing, Online Marketing, SEM, Social Media, Social Media Marketing, Social Networking | No Comments »
Tuesday, March 30th, 2010
I’m currently reading a book entitled The New Rules of Marketing and PR that my friend and local business owner Brad Johnson of Lawn America loaned to me. It’s quite good! I came across a story about a company that we all know and can identify with, and I found it relevant to many of the business owners that I speak to every week. So, I thought I’d share…
Century 21 Real Estate LLC is the franchisor of the world’s largest residential real estate sales organization, an industry giant comprising approx. 8,000 offices in 45 countries. You’ve seen Century 21’s TV ads before, but you haven’t seen them lately. In 2009, the company pulled its national TV advertising and invested those resources into online marketing. That’s a huge move considering the amount of TV they were doing. (more…)
Tags: Advertising, Innovated Media, Internet Marketing, Internet marketing tulsa, Marketing, ROI, Web Design
Posted in Advertising, Marketing, Online Marketing, Social Media, Social Networking | No Comments »
Sunday, March 28th, 2010
How important is someone reviewing your business or organization online? I don’t know, because there is no way to put a number to it…but I’ll try. I do know this: I’ll listen to another consumer about a company rather than some form of one-directional advertising trying to get my business for the same company. Not that I don’t pay attention to advertising, but is that just because I look at it to critique it and draw ideas from it? Some advertising has turned into a form of entertainment, I think.
I look at it this way: the consumer was once in my shoes, performed a similar search for a local company that provided a service that they need(ed), and they made a decision.
How is their experience with that company captured? How can we, the other consumers, learn from their decision to choose one company over another? Well, (drumroll…..), enter the online review. (more…)
Tags: Innovated Media, local business listings, online reviews
Posted in Advertising, Marketing, Online Marketing, Social Networking | No Comments »
