Lisa Furgison says, “When you’re looking for a answer, what do you do? You Google it, right? Most of us pull out our smartphone or laptop and head to Google, or a similar search engine to find answers. It’s so common that “google” is listed as a verb in the Oxford English Dictionary. Of course, as a business owner, you want your own website... [Read more]

Travis Bliffen says, “Most Web professionals have heard of the potential SEO benefits of including a blog on their websites and updating it regularly. After talking with countless business owners though, it became apparent that many of them do not understand why blogging helps with SEO and with that, why it fails sometimes as well. Why Do Blogs... [Read more]

Thomas Stern says, “Landing pages are the first destination for new users coming to your site. They offer a representation of your brand, and can be a great tool for capturing leads and driving sales. However, your landing page will not help convert users if they are not optimized for generating leads. It is essential to maintain a flow to your page... [Read more]

Professional screen capture videos; Screencast Pro shows how #ad Less than 24 hours ago, ScreenCast Pro, the new training on Camtasia was announced, and already over 1000 copies were sold. Camtasia is the world’s foremost software for making marketing and training videos about PC software. Many thousands of companies, big and small, use Camtasia. If... [Read more]

Ted Wright says, “In today’s digitally saturated world, it has become nearly impossible for consumers to escape the constant chorus of brands vying for attention and “engagement,” so many people are tuning out. According to Nielsen, 92 percent of Americans trust recommendations from family and friends (i.e. word of mouth) more than any... [Read more]

Richard Lazazzera says, “Tax season is here, and whether it’s your first year in business or your tenth year, it always feels like there’s an endless list of tasks to get through to file your return. This step-by-step guide will help you get organized so you can get a jump start and file your 2014 tax return well before it’s due. Let’s... [Read more]

Josh Brown says, “To effectively improve conversions for your business, you need to understand consumer psychology. If you understand your prospects’ biases and tendencies, and you know the thoughts and emotions that they experience when they move through your sales funnel or when they’re exposed to your marketing materials, you will... [Read more]

Yesterday, we told you about this new cutting edge software, Drag ‘n Drop Illustrator software: This provides “drag and drop” capability so you can insert components (people or scenery, buildings, furniture, etc.) wherever you want to build up the final picture without any artistic skill. The creators of Drag ‘n Drop Illustrator ... [Read more]

David Rekuc says, “Digital marketing is quite the fragmented landscape; modern marketing channels can be so complex that they often require dedicated specialists. But who is looking at the bigger picture when your team members are mono-focused on one discipline? I find this especially worrisome in the world of organic and paid search, which... [Read more]

Jeff Hoffman says, “The method of outreach sales reps use for a first connect makes a significant difference in response rates. So rather than basing your decision of calling a new prospect or sending an email on your personal preference or what you’re more comfortable with, you should choose according to what the prospect is most likely to... [Read more]

Todd Wasserman says, “Facebook now has 2 million active advertisers, a figure the company included in an announcement for its new mobile app “Ads Manager.” For Facebook, the number is a moving target. Six months ago, the social network boasted 1.5 million active advertisers, meaning they had advertised within the last month. Eighteen... [Read more]

The easiest way to start marketing online is as an affiliate. However, that's not as easy as in the past, because: #1. Conversion rates, EPCs and profits per promo are all declining... [Read more]

Mitch Meyerson says, “To have a profitable online business, you need to help your visitors know, like, and trust you. And to do this in a competitive online marketplace, you must help them feel confident in you and your company. The good news is that confidence can be built and strategies for it abound. The most important ones are outlined below. 1.... [Read more]

Courtney Eckerle says, “There are a lot of decisions that go into putting on Email Summit. Millions, probably, if you go deep enough. But they all come around with one objective: you. The attendees and people who are reading about, and following, the event. In every discussion and decision, we were asking ourselves how it would affect the experience.... [Read more]

David Moth says, “In recent weeks I’ve been conducting various user tests on grocery store websites, and in the process I’ve registered my details with most of the UK’s biggest brands. My inbox is now slowly filling up with welcome emails and other marketing messages trying to lure me back to their ecommerce sites. Here’s a look at how a... [Read more]

Look at many of the videos on major websites. Even in the background when a speaker is making a presentation, there’s often movement going on. It could be abstract or it could be a scene in a city or something as simple as clouds floating by... [Read more]

Rand Fishkin says, “It’s been a long time since we covered one of the most fundamental building blocks of SEO—the structure of domain names and URLs—and I think it’s high time to revisit. But, an important caveat before we begin: the optimal structures and practices I’ll be describing in the tips below are NOT absolutely... [Read more]

Martin Beck says, “Pinterest continues to beat an aggressive path for cash. Today’s news is that the company is pitching a multi-image Promoted Pin unit to ad agencies. Reported first by Digiday, the feature would give advertisers the ability to include more than one photo in a “multi-pin carousel. ” Pinterest spokesman Mike Mayzel confirmed... [Read more]

Entrepreneur team says, “Everyone knows you need a business plan, yet many entrepreneurs don’t realize a marketing plan is just as vital. Unlike a business plan, a marketing plan focuses on winning and keeping customers; it’s strategic and includes numbers, facts and objectives. A good marketing plan spells out all the tools and tactics... [Read more]

Benji Wilson has had five best-selling Kindle books and over 110,000 downloads in all. He attributes his success to his research into the category system Amazon uses to classify books. By his careful use of the right categories, he was able to increase his sales dramatically. One month he even sold over $11,000 in downloads of 4 of his books... [Read more]

Greg Shuey says, “Over the past 5 years, the average sales cycle has increased by 22%. Well-informed buyers in the decision making process, coupled with slow economic growth, creates for the perfect storm for lengthy B2B and B2C sales cycles. Furthermore, survey data from Crain’s BtoB Magazine reported that 43% of respondents saw an overall... [Read more]

Mindaugas Caplinskas says, “As more of our lives and business is conducted online, the risk of having our information compromised or used against us increases proportionately. Strengthening online security doesn’t mean lowering your risk to zero, but you can plug the main gaps to reduce the largest potential issues. Here are eight simple... [Read more]

Richard Lazazzera says, “When it comes to starting an online business, you have a lot of choices to make. The biggest of the choices may be the most important as they will ultimately define your business model and much of the future of your business. In this post, we’re going to show you at a high-level each one of the major choices you need... [Read more]

Lindsay Rothfeld says, “What does it mean to be the chief marketing officer of an agency? Well, according to creative agency MRY‘s CMO David Berkowitz, it’s an unusual, challenging and rewarding role to be a marketer’s marketer. “Our brands are B2C, and I am in a B2B business. For our brands, it’s easier to differentiate... [Read more]

Steve Dille says, “There’s nothing more valuable than assembling some serious industry brainpower in one room for a good discussion around immediate and future challenges, and we were recently able to get up close and personal with two — two, count ‘em! — panels that brought members of ISP brain trusts together. In past years, the Internet... [Read more]

Arie Shpanya says, “Ecommerce has been making its mark the past couple of years, but is still only a fraction of the overall retail industry. Online retailers and ecommerce professionals have been eagerly speculating that online retail will soon overtake brick and mortar stores in terms of popularity and sales. Despite optimistic holiday numbers,... [Read more]

Siobhán McGinty says, “Creating buyer personas is an essential part of building a successful inbound marketing strategy. Buyer personas help you better understand your current and potential customers, what their pain points are, what information they need, and how you can position your offering to meet their needs. Without documented buyer... [Read more]