In my research I’ve found the following things:

Number one – The Majority of people over the age of 30 have NO CLUE what they’re doing while shopping online.

Number two – Web developers like to cut corners when it comes to the niceties of online data collection and exporting of that data.

Number three – The basic emarketing strategy actually DOESN’T work for every business.

Number four – There is no such thing as easy traffic.

Number five – Teaching old people about Internet marketing is much harder than previously perceived.

While these are my initial reactions to the first week of work at The Flag Lady I am still extremely confident in the being able to target the niches that they have as customers and am even more confident that after a little bit of tweaking, this online presence is going to be HUGE when I get done with it.

Currently The Flag Lady’s Flag Store only targets the standard retail shopper that would shop every day in their retail store. The real opportunity of growth is going to be from targeting the specific niches they have inside their business. Thus far they’ve had a catch all approach to online marketing. Once I get the proper product and marketing tools in place, this business is going to flourish and take off like never before. I’m still very encouraged by the potential of the business to take off online, I was just not originally aware of the amount of work it was going to take to get the business to take off online.

I can not tell you how great it has been for me to hear from all of you and hear how much my writing means to you and how the things that I’ve shared have helped you in one way or another. I believe that the internet is the single greatest communication device ever created (DUH!) and I am happy that I have been able to inspire some of you to try new things, but more importantly to continue your studies as an internet marketeer.

In closing for today, I just wanted to say thanks again to all of you, your support has been overwhelming to me. Until next time…hit the books.

Step 1:
Build you network of caring followers. Post about things only related to your topic. Follow only people who are interested in your topic, and engage with people who are interested in your topic. The ability to create your own little niche of sorts on twitter is one of it’s greatest features. Using search.twitter.com you can find people who are talking about topics that are related to your field and engage with them.

Step 2:
Engage these followers in some way. Whether that just be general comments, contests, or by posting news updates about your product you need to engage these people and let them know that they are important to you from the start. My favorite thing to do is a contest. They work EVERY time because there is always going to be a small niche of people who are just looking for free stuff.

Step 3:
Determine your Twitter sales approach. Twitter is a great tool for a lot of things. It can be used for customer service, blogging, or sales. If you are looking to make your Twitter account drive more sales for you you have to be sales oriented. Use it to post your sales and deals but also use it to help your customers out with any problems they might be having with your site.

Step 4:
Give people incentive to follow you on Twitter. This should be done whenever you are trying to get more of your customer or user base to engage with you on social media. Give them a discount code just for following you. It’ll make them feel like they are a part of something exclusive and special.

Step 5:
Announce that you are on Twitter. Put a twitter icon on your front page and link it to your twitter page. Blog about your Twitter account. Let people know that they can find you on Twitter and let them know that just for following you you’ll give them an exclusive discount code.

The best way to sell things online is to test new and creative ideas. I challenge all of you to try and push the boundaries of normal practices and put your own spin on them. These are more of guidelines to help you get started selling on Twitter than anything else. Take my ideas and give them your own creative boost. That is when you’ll be able to really take off with Twitter and your other social media campaigns.

Are length, brevity and personalization the keys to good subject lines? I have found that it’s not this magic combination, but the constant testing and versioning of your subject lines. Good subject lines are not simply conjured by a copywriter and often can’t be repurposed time and time again. Good subject lines are ones that are in constant state of flux and improvement.

 
The Elements of a good subject line are:
1. Clear
2. Actionable
3. Relevant
4. Short

 
If you can follow these above four items you are on the right path.
Tactics for improving email open rates with subject lines:

 
1. Timing – look at what times your subscriber base not only opens once but when they come back again. These subsequent opens will help you to chart your course.
2. When do they buy/convert or hit a goal page? By tracking web behavior and combining those metrics with email behavior, specifically opens and clicks, you will start to identify patterns which will help determine hot spots to drive the open.
3. Subject line testing. Are you testing dynamic subject lines driven by profile data or by past behavioral data? The secret is not always in using the name but using what’s important to them. What relevant brands or benefits tied to your campaign? Not shoes, but Nike. Not batteries included, but ready to use. Using specific and relevant brands you might sell, and a benefit-focused offer will give relevance and credibility, setting you apart in the inbox.

What you believe should be avoided in subject lines for best results.

 
1. Avoid being “salesy.” Always pushing your sales agenda will reduce the open rate and conversion rate.
2. Avoid ALL CAPS in subject lines. They feel like you are shouting for attention and not being respectful of your subscribers’ time.
3. Don’t be overly creative with your subject lines. Now this might sound odd, but if it is not simple, understood and gives a clear action or value then it will be passed over.

Tips:
Look at the check out line newsstand on your next visit to the grocery store. Notice all of the tabloids that are meant to be quickly scanned, understood and drive you to want to open and buy them to read more. They work.

 
Step 1: Keep it simple and informative
Step 2: Write to audience, not at the audience
Step 3: Keep the customer lifecycle in mind – think long term
Step 4: Personalize messages based on profile or behavioral data
Step 5: Insight a sense of action – Use a verb
Step 6. Test Twice, Send Once!

“And that’s how the proverbial E mail-Cookie Crumbles”

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when I got to the conference but I was definitely looking forward to learning something new. I think more important to me was to get a chance to really see where Columbus stands in terms of the Internet Marketing Industry. I must say that I was extremely impressed and inspired. We have a lot of great minds in this city and that is something that I am extremely proud of and all of you should be as well. Check out what everyone was saying about it on twitter #cmhsome.

I am not going to go over each case study piece by piece but I would like to take my top social media best practices that I pulled from the conference.

Social Media Best Practices

1. Research Your Target Audience – The best way to reach your target audience is to meet them where they are. That may be Facebook or Twitter or a forum of some sort. Engage your target audience where they are and find a way to connect with them.
2. Create an Event – The case study about Capital University is what inspired this one. They used social Media to re-brand themselves. They also went to their target audience. Enrollment counselors friend requested students who had applied and been accepted, continued to create fun events around their major dates, and enrollment exceeded expectations.
3. BE REAL – This is an important one. In order to truly engage with the social media communities you have to be engaged with them. If someone tries to ask you a question about your business or service answer them in a timely manner. It makes the conversation seem more real and gives the user more incentive to continue to interact with you.
4. Be consistent – This sort of goes along with the last best practice. Consistency does help you seem more real and give the user more incentive to interact. But more than that posting on the same days can give your following a schedule of sorts. Just like TV, if they know when you’re on (posting), you will get a much more consistent following encouraging them even more to interact with you.
5. Creativity is King – Look, Social Media isn’t a science, it’s a lot of trial and error, but as Paul would say, it’s all about swinging the bat. So think outside of the box, try some fun and crazy ideas, think creatively and you will come up with some great ideas that people will love.
6. Keep Learning – We all know that the internet changes pretty regularly. What did work, doesn’t anymore so you need to continue to read, learn, and try new things. Knowledge is the key to everything in life and Internet Marketing and Social Media are no different.

I’ll keep an eye out for some of the video footage from this conference and make sure to post it for everyone. I’d advise you to just take a look at these case studies and hopefully you can come out with some cool ideas for how to implement social media into your business.

Links- what do you do to get the links from your old site to your new one ( this is the most important part)

Search Trends- which URL is going to help you gain the most traffic through the search engines

.Com vs. .org?- believe it or not there is a difference and it helps a lot with credibility to your customers.

Okay let’s get back to the links. it is important to make sure that your new site retains as many of the links from the old site as possible. How do you know who is linking to your old site? Simple, just go to yahoo.com and enter this search query “linkdomain:www.oldsiteurl.com” from there you will have a full list of everyone who links to your old site. Contact each one of those people and ask them to link to your new site. You might not get all of the links back but the more you retain the better.

Okay now the search trends. It is important to get your next site off to the right start by establishing a strong URL. Using tools likes Google search trends you can determine which keyword is most important for you to use.
For instance, the client in question sells American Flags and I was curious as to whether we should use “America” in the url or “USA” I used Google’s search trends tool and determined that using USA was most favorable in their market. Not only will they show up easier for USA flags but they will for US flags as well. That is the difference in thousands of dollars in sales for them.
Lastly which should we use a .com website or a .org? While both types of URL’s carry the same wait for the search engines .org websites carry significantly more trust value than a .com. I chose a .org for this site for that exact reason.
All in all there are a lot of important factors when you are switching a site over to a new URL. These are some of the most important. I’m going to leave you with this last little gem. When planning on switching over url’s the earlier you can establish the domain the better. Search engines place a lot of weight on domains that have been around for the longest amount of time.

1. Instant News Feeds- Twitter has instant feeds into anything that is happening in the real world. For instance, when the United Airlines flight landed in the Hudson river a few months ago, it was a Twitter User that sent the news out into the world first. He took an eyewitness photo of the scene, and he was the source that the media was using at first.
2. Constant Entertainment- Twitter is big pretty much all over the world. For all of you insomniacs out there, twitter is your social networking haven. No matter what time day or night, Twitter constantly has thousands of users updating their twitter accounts 24/7 365.
3. Get to Know your Favorite Bloggers- Some of Twitter’s most avid users are some of the internet’s best bloggers and writers. With Twitter you get to find out what your favorite blogger is up to in between each blog post. Their updates give you a glance into the person behind the blog. Twitter makes it easier than any other social networking site.
4. Get Other People’s Opinions- So you just read a story that you can’t quite figure out? Hit up search.twitter.com or check Twitter’s top trending topics to get great candid advice from the twitterverse. A lot of times on a blog you will get a watered down opinion from someone but on Twitter, users will tell you what they really think.
5. Find New Sources for Info- With the power of retweeting through twitter, people are spreading new sources and new great information, from all over the internet. Sometimes even the big time bloggers and media miss out on some great information. Why not use Twitter to introduce you to some other great minds.
6. Get Connected to People in Your field- Again Twitter is probably the easiest social networking tool for looking to network with people in your profession. For example, I have made countless numbers of strong connections with people in my field (internet marketing) or a related field, that I have been able to work directly with in order to achieve a common goal.
7. Get Fresh Ideas- Twitter gives you access to some of the worlds most creative minds. Whether it be a new recipe for dinner, a new contest idea, or a new way to organize your life, Twitterer’s are coming up with new creative ideas on a daily basis that you have at your disposal right at your fingertips. Cool huh?
8. Stay Connected with Your Community- By following people in your local communities you can have better access to more opportunities to participate in your community than ever before. Take this scenario for instance; It’s Saturday afternoon and you’re sitting around being lazy and bored. So you get on Twitter and check out what some of your local twitter friends are tweeting about and you see that there is an Arts Festival in town that you didn’t know about with free entry for the first 500 people. You hop in your car and head to the participate in the festivities; Problem solved!
9. Get Closer to Your Friends and Family- Let’s face it, life is busy, we’d love to be able to keep in touch with our friends and family more but simply don’t have the time. With Twitter, that problem is solved as well. You can log on and see that your friend Suzy’s daughter just got accepted to Harvard, or that your brother just started putting up a new fence at his house, Twitter makes getting closer with your family and friends easier than any other social networking service.
10. Share your knowledge with the world- Most of us don’t consider ourselves experts in everything we do. But just like you look to others for cool new ideas and advice, others will look to you. Share some of your ideas and advice with the world, while you might not think it’s that big of a deal, others might.

Twitter is a great tool for many reasons. From staying connected to friends and family, to coming up with your next fun project, Twitter is a social tool that is more powerful than any other social networking tool on the internet. It is the most powerful because it has broken down the barriers of the friend request. You don’t have to ask permission to read someone’s updates, you can do that by simply choosing to follow someone you find interesting. Check it out. I promise you will not be disappointed.

Until next time….