What do people search for on the Internet? You’d be surprised!

One way you can find out is to check out Google Trends’ HotTrends section. They list the top 100 search trends. Today is November 24th and a pattern emerged on today’s list, the pattern is “Thanksgiving”. I bet you think people are searching for things like…

How to cook a turkey for thanksgiving.
Recipes for thanksgiving.

Well, maybe they are searching for these but not enough times to make it to Google’s Hot Trends list. Instead, here are the Thanksgiving related phrases that did make it…

1) thanksgiving word search
2) thanksgiving math worksheets
3) thanksgiving quotes
4) thanksgiving activities
5) thanksgiving trivia
6) thanksgiving printables
7) thanksgiving crossword puzzles
thanksgiving lesson plans
9) the history of thanksgiving
10) thanksgiving reading comprehension
11) thanksgiving writing prompts
12) thanksgiving poem

I don’t know about you, but it looks to me like Teachers are the number one audience group doing searches this day! Hmmm, so wouldn’t it be interesting if you could not only target an audience but then target what the audience is looking for just by looking at the top 100 trends noted by Google? How would that impact your marketing plan?

Yesterday I was watching a news station, can’t remember if it was MSNBC or CNN but either way, the reporter was talking about the Obama Condoms that she just purchased in NYC! I know that America, and the world for that matter is on an Obama Kick but really, condoms?!

Well, why not? I’m sure that condom manufacturer just saw an opportunity to catch the wave and ride it for as long as he/she could! It’s crazy marketing! Are you taking advantage of crazy marketing? Why not? Well, maybe you’re not quite sure how to do it. Maybe you’re not one of those “out of the box” thinking kind of people. Well, let me help. Here are some “crazy marketing ideas” to help you get started.

1) Here’s a website that details all of the holidays, crazy or not, that are celebrated in the US. For example, did you know that from November 23 to November 29 is “Better Conversation Week”? I bet you didn’t! Why not celebrate that week by marketing “better conversations with your clients”. What can you do to create better conversations with your clients? Do it!!

2) Fast Pack is a company that celebrates Bubble Wrap Day like no other! They manufacture bubble wrap and they’ve taken the concept of celebrating a crazy holiday to all ultimate levels! I love the bubble wrap dress!

3) Find out what people are looking for by visiting Google Trends, searching on Twitter, join TrendHunter and participate. You can’t catch the wave if you don’t know where the beach is!

4) Here’s a great article on how businesses use widgets. I tell you, widgets can be VIRAL! I mean, you create it, put it on your website(s) and others can then take the widget and put it on their websites which in effect, promotes your website! Springs Widgets is just one website where you can create and submit widgets.

Well, these should keep you busy for awhile! So go give them a try, once you start, it’s hard to stop! Good luck!

In his article, A Future View of Social Media and How To Prepare Today, Augie Ray reports that there are “two broad categories of actions that marketers should take now to pave the road to future Social Media success. The first is to execute the traditional best practices that create and strengthen brands. The second is to begin to embrace the new era of Social Media and create relationships by engaging consumers.”

Use Social Media For Branding

Have you even begun the process of creating or strengthening your company brand? I know, you’ve probably read about it in some marketing article or in the same book that said you should have a business plan (you know, the one thing you never really got around to) – but the truth is, branding is VITAL for any business to survive. Following are some basic steps on how to brand your business.

1) Identify your USP (Unique Selling Proposition) – if you don’t have one, get one!

2) Target your audience. MySpace is mostly populated with artists and the young. If you sell long term care insurance, it makes no sense to market your product on MySpace.

3) Share, share, share. Create articles, lists, directories, videos, widgets, etc. on your social media campaigns so that others can take them and use them on their blogs and social media sites. Maybe you run a Labrador Breeding company – you can create a widget filled with information on how to take care of labrador retrievers.

Use Social Media To Engage

You know all those networking groups you go to for the purpose of marketing your business? Those 7 AM breakfast meetings, leads groups, chamber of commerce after hour events, networking luncheons, golfing events, business expos, etc? What do you do at those meetings? Meet new people, get to know other members better, exchange business cards, educate others on your services/products, exchange ideas, learn about competition, learn about new services, hand shakes, pats on the back, etc.!

Well, social networking groups can do the same thing except the members are global. But, you still have to meet, greet, get to know, educate, gain trust, etc. The only difference is, you do it on your time and your own coffee!

But, in addition to the aspect of networking groups Social Media programs do something else. They allow you to also engage your customers. This means that you are “attending” social media programs and not only get to meet and greet with potential customers, you get to actively engage with existing customers. Here’s how some companies are doing it…

The airline JetBlue established a Twitter account and in doing so also established a monitoring type of service. So, whenever the name JetBlue is typed into a Tweet (a note on Twitter) Jet Blue is notified and as such, they immediately respond to the person who typed it. Was there a problem? Is the person delayed at an airport and complaning? Jet Blue wants to know and they want to assure the customer that they are listening and they want to help. How cool is that?

Absolut Vodka has a Top Bartender page on Facebook where people across the planet vote for their favorite bartender.

Starbucks started a social media campaign called MyStarbucksIdea where customers submit their ideas for the company.

President Elect Barack Obama created a Feedback Forum – allowing the nation to voice their thoughts, opinions, suggestions, ideas, etc. And VOTE on them! How fricking cool is that?

Here’s a list of 100 companies and their social media ventures. Learn from them and incorporate what you can into your own business.

There’s no denying that social media marketing is absolutely becoming an integral part of Internet marketing. Simply optimizing a website for the search engines or participating in a PPC campaign are just not enough these days. The exposure and return that you can gain from participating in and interacting with others through these social media venues is just too much to deny. So, go ahead, take the plunge! I’ll see you there.

A Day In The Life Of A Search Engine Optimizer

Some business owners begin Internet marketing on their own. They read the small business guides and learn all they can about search engine optimization. It’s a great way to begin Internet marketing because, in my opinion, it gives the business owner first hand knowledge of what is REALLY involved in the SEO process. But for those of you who simply hired someone to manage Internet marketing, search engine optimization for your website, let me give you a basic rundown of a sample day in the life of a search engine optimizer.

1) Mornings begin with organizing any phone calls and emails that have come through during the evening. This can take anywhere from 15 minutes to 1 hour, depending on the volume of emails and phone calls. This does not include answering the emails or the phone calls, just organizing, sorting and prioritizing them onto the schedule.

2) Building incoming links. This includes writing about websites, their products and/or services in newsletters, social media marketing campaigns, back link campaigns, pay per click campaigns, updates on website pages, press releases and phone conferences with clients. In my company, this process is performed for 65 clients each day so this can take anywhere from 4 to 5 hours, depending on the specific project for each specific website.

3) Website Status – this is simply a review of yesterday’s website statistics for each website. Was there a huge dip or rise in the number of visitors? Any unusual referrals to the website? Any website pages failing to produce conversions? The list of what needs to be done to the website is generated from this review. The list of to do’s is then added to the project scheduler. This process takes a little over 2 hours, for 65 clients.

4) The To Do’s – this ongoing list of “to do’s” is the meat of the SEO day. Here is where we begin to implement the changes that we need to further increase the website’s ranking on the search engines. The difference between Step 4 and Step 2 is that Step 4 is specific to each website, whereas Step 2 is general. All websites require incoming links. But the information gathered from each website statistics report gives us the details of what specifically needs to be done to each individual website page (if anything at all). This process is on going and we normally spend 3 – 4 hours per day on this step.

5) In between the steps above is where we answer emails and phone calls. Sometimes we just have a few moments, sometimes none at all. But we try very hard to get to everyone as soon as possible.

The average work day for a search engine optimizer is 15 hours and it’s spent mostly thinking of one question. “How can I make this website better?” – The goal of any good search engine optimizer is to make the website visibile and to improve it’s conversion. We can work on the website but it’s a team effort. No website can succeed without the input from it’s owner. After all, the search engine optimizer knows the Internet but it’s YOU who knows your business!