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Posts by: Barbara Rozgonyi

Social Media Optimization | Search Engine Strategies Coverage

Posted on December 10, 2008

Thanks to Search Engine Strategies for including me in their press corps. Here’s a transcript from the Social Media Optimization session held in Chicago on December 10.  Notes captured using CoverItLive are as typed with no editing. You’ll see I figured out how to make longer entries as I went along. Still testing this technology as an alternative to live twitter updates. What do you think of this format?

Social Media Optimization Description from Chicago Search Engine Strategies Program
Community-built web sites, Facebook, YouTube, Microsoft Tagspace Wikipedia and new sites allowing content to be shared through “tagging” can be a great way to tap into links and search-driven traffic. This session looks at some social media services and strategies to tap into them in an appropriate manner. Hear how-tos and tips from search marketers who have discovered what works today and what to avoid.

  • Moderator:
    Pauline Ores, SES Advisory Board & Senior Marketing Manager, Social Media Engagement, IBM Corporation
  • Speakers:
    Erik Qualman, Search Engine Watch Expert & Global VP, EF Education
    Liana Evans, Director of Internet Marketing, KeyRelevance
    Jonathan Ashton, VP of SEO & Web Analytics, Agency.com

10:37

Liana Evans, Director of Internet Marketing, KeyRelevance  showing report from Deloitte services, really astounding to her is 17% of matures creating social media

10:40

read Groundswell by Charlene Li – showing social technographics of online US adults: creators, critics, collectors, joiners, spectators, and inactives
29% of people watching videos from other people, 28% people read online forums or discussions groups, visit social networking and visiting blogs – are you doing this?

10:41

How do you know this works?
Define your goals before you start – beyond traffic and conversion.
Stuff you can measure:
-comments, ratings, views, links
- blog comments and subscribers
- replies to forum messages
- new users to forum
- number of subscribers and friends

10:49

Liana Evans, Director of Internet Marketing, KeyRelevance
Case Study: Barack Obama
!. understand your audience
- he needed youth vote, gen Xers, African Americas, blue collar workers, women, independent voters
2. hold a conversation
- www.mybarackobama.com – place for people to converse and share
3. make videos
- posted over 1500 videos with handheld cameras
- over 19,000,000 views to this channel
4. create videos – others for you
- yes we can video
5. take photos
- flickr stream he shares
- people share with obama
6. get on LinkedIn
- people talking about him
7. set up www.blackplanet.com
- first place he posted his message to the people when he won
- has over 480,000 friends/people seeing his message
8. twitter
- follows more people than he has followers
- team follows people who talk about him
9. all social stuff leads to SERPs
- social sites all in top 10 results for “Barack Obama”
- can dominate for key terms if social is optimized
RESULTS
from exit polls. . .
won female, African-American, 18-24, 30-39, independents and blue collar workers
Take aways
- know audience
- define goals
- create strategy
- start conversation
- let go of control
- encourage sharing
- be social!!!

11:05

Erik Qualman, Search Engine Watch Expert & Global VP, EF Education
@equalman www.socialnomics.net
Dating used to be what’s your phone number? Now – don’t I follow you on twitter?
Where do you need to be in the social media space?
What are you selling?
Customer service – maybe you should be on twitter
Publishing – digg or delicious
Band – MySpace
Non-Profit – Facebook
Artist – flickr
Long- term be everywhere, short-term test and get something in beta. Get something out there and let your users tell you how to change it.
Facebook designed to stay connected with people you already know, MySpace connect with people you don’t know.
Keep an eye on trends and it also depends on what country you’re in.
“Field of nightmares” build it an no one shows up – what happens if you build your own community. Check out www.livemocha.com if you’re trying to learn a language.
Shows a screen grab from Facebook about lawnmowers to show even if you’re not doing anything your customers are – John Deere fans.
Power Facebook – Ben & Jerry’s
250,000 fans before election
gave away ice cream on election day via social media sites
400,000 fans
Couldn’t do it before because of print and ads, social media is free or very small. Great increase in one week.
Top traffic source if you have a Facebook fan page – softer sell.
**** The next inbox is really social media – acts like a real time conversation. ****
Case Study on Application
A lot of what social media about is bragging – people talked about where they went in the world. Globalprint app for Facebook required people to fill out information before they could get it on their site. Got 50,000 people a day.
Huge mistake: don’t put up a facebook or twitter page and immediately send people to your site.
Where I’ve Been app developed by someone who objected to having to give information. TripAdvisor was going to pay $3M for application, built their own app instead – 1.4 million users can use data for product itself.
Can also use for public relations – have all that data that press loves to eat up.
Where to from here?
Will morph into a socialnomic piece. In the future, within their personal network, you can search to find who bought what and how they reviewed it. As a marketer, your job is going to change to being at the point of sale, to incentivize reviews and stay abreast of what they like and don’t so they can change in real time.
People starting to go to wikipedia first for search. Start small and then grow big from there.

11:25

Jonathan Ashton, VP of SEO & Web Analytics, Agency.com in Chicago
“A Cautionary Tale for the CMO”
Yes, CMOs there is a Santa Claus, but be careful for what you ask for.
Social Media is the marketing buzzword du jour – essentially what the Internet is and has been taking place since the 60s with bulletin boards. term from mid-2006
Need to fully understand your customers and respect their need for their own space and then contribute value.
What can social media contribute as an optimizer?
Links and Traffic
Retail ecommerce – socialized shopping and promos
CPG, in-store promotions, branding
B2B – lead gen, white papers
Restaurants – reservations, appointments
Create a branded blog, develop new content [link bait]
What is right for your brand?
- application?
- tune into twitter?
Examples of brand marketers who’s done well . . .
www.mycoke.com – all Flash, not good for SEO
build into the coke.com strategy, at the end of the day it’s a silo, doesn’t have any consumer incentive to transfer to another environment
Disney DXD social network, all Flash
get a chance to engage in a siloed environment, not portable into third party social environments
Winners of the Golden Turd – via Consumerist
lessons well learned
Wal-Mart – Jim and Laura traveled around to learn the stories of people who work with Wal-Mart, it’s fake blog – not real as is Sony’s Xbox Flog www.alliwantforxmasisapsp.com ends up having an echo effect for Sony
Best example of corporate social environment – www.blogsouthwest.com participate in a meaningful way with content you develop, have these people report to corporate communications
You can win advocates by solving problems.
As CMO you can do pretty well now, you can buy high quality services from people who know what they’re doing like tremor – pre-built for pre-packaged goods.
Be sure you’re listening to conversations.

 

5 Comments - Posted in PR Tagged with:

SEO PR Chicago Search Engine Strategies | Twitter Transcripts

Posted on December 9, 2008

Twitter transcripts for this session follow. Apologies to those of you who checked in and found a coveritlive.com template. NOW I know how to use it – testing new technology on the fly is, uh, iffy. But, I think more people enjoyed the twitter updates anyway. So, thanks for your patience and to those of you who commented while I was updating – thanks for being part of the conversation. As always, the updates are as exactly as posted with no changes – and they are in reverse order. So, start at the bottom and read from the top.

Basics Track

Turning PR Efforts into SEO Results – Session Description from Chicago Search Engine Strategies Program Guide

Search engine optimization is one of the most effective ways to reach target audiences. Unfortunately, most organizations are focused solely on how SEO impacts marketing and advertising and are failing to take advantage of the unique and very impactful results that are generated when SEO is applied to public relations. Organizations that capitalize on the convergence of marketing, advertising and public relations stand to benefit from more successful, less-costly campaigns, while organizations that fail to integrate PR into SEO efforts stand to miss out on a valuable opportunity.

Optimizing press releases for natural search offers organizations the opportunity to drive traffic from authoritative third party sites. It also provides another means to generate fresh content for the organization’s web site and the ability to determine whether or not an organization’s message is connecting with intended audiences. In addition, natural search optimization can generate new leads and show measurable results. These tools are often less costly than traditional advertising programs and leverage existing advertising content to communicate more directly with consumers.

This session will provide real-life examples to show how organizations can achieve maximum results for any communications campaign through natural search optimization of press releases.

LisaAdamsWalter: To all PR Peeps, follow Barbara Rozgonyi @wiredprworks for up to the minute notes from #ses – good information!

wiredprworks: match the type of content to the channel that’s most appropriate, not so much about biggest bang for your buck #ses

wiredprworks: #ses trick from @leeodden, separate out elements:news+blog post for social

wiredprworks: technorati doesn’t pick up press release so adding tags is useless #ses

wiredprworks: search for “social media release is a meatball sundae” greg jarboe, it’s an oxymoron, 2 things that don’t belong together #ses

wiredprworks: google social media release and will see template, some initial studies show high traffic-tech or corp, but no broad scale studies done #ses

wiredprworks: social media news release 20% of room is familiar with concept #ses

wiredprworks: establish processes in the review cycle, optimize from the beginning #ses

wiredprworks: @CarriBugbee http://tinyurl.com/5ju698 (expand) see turning PR efforts into SEO results #ses

wiredprworks: online press release optimization make sure same keyword is in headline, first paragraph and landing page – be consistent #ses

gavoweb: RT @wiredprworks: use Google AdWords keyword tool to plug in a URL and get some keyword suggestions #ses (thanks for the tip barbara)

CarriBugbee: @wiredprworks This has always been my philosophy. What is #SES? ‘Cause I’m too lazy to research the event…

wiredprworks: use Google AdWords keyword tool to plug in a URL and get some keyword suggestions #ses

wiredprworks: language is a big disconnect between marketing-PR, don’t call it a recreational vehicle if people say RV, use advantageous keywords #ses

wiredprworks: so many opportunities left on the table, like when sales leads come in from press release, develop some continuity across organization #ses

wiredprworks: think in terms of the metrics and business effect that your communications are driving, share of voice and tonality #ses

wiredprworks: a lot easier to measure PR now, ask what are your goals? contrary to popular belief it’s really easy to get into the news #ses

wiredprworks: disconnect between marketing and PR – objectives, tactics and language #ses, stronger lifting if you use both arms

wiredprworks: have to really think about information we issue as really granular #ses, need to readjust thinking as to how info will be consumed online

wiredprworks: understanding “audience” bought earthworms on Internet, buy encapsulated cocoons, there is an audience for everything at a given time #ses

wiredprworks: think more about business results than a clip book, need to connect marketing and PR more, especially with traditional companies #ses

wiredprworks: Sarah Skerik from PR Newswire up now talking about integrating SEO and PR communicating optimally, her customers more traditional #ses

wiredprworks: journalists use Google Alerts for companies or high profile thought leaders, use optimization to become one of their preferred sources #ses

wiredprworks: press releases are just one type of news content, best practices optimize content throughout #ses

wiredprworks: contributed content: articles, letters to the editor and profiles #ses use keywords in headline& put anchor text in article, set up profiles

wiredprworks: publicize publicity – create blog post or newsroom to publicize pick up to leverage third party credibility, add content #ses

wiredprworks: Know the value of links: monitor online pickups, link to the pickup via bookmark #ses

wiredprworks: create online newsroom, post press release there first and that will be the one that ranks #ses

wiredprworks: top to bottom, left to right for keywords, #ses, 500 word release use keyword 2-4 times, add media into press release

wiredprworks: Optimize news, do media training – optimize speaking points, contributed articles-optimize content and use anchor text w/in copy #ses

wiredprworks: if it can be search on, it can be optimized #ses

wiredprworks: not being found online? you’re missing media opportunities #ses pull peopls to you w/PR, newsroom, social media

wiredprworks: how do you use search: 95% research stories, 91% news, 91% companies/people, 82% story ideas, press releases #ses

wiredprworks: most SEO optimizing for a searcher,, news optimization focuses on a diff audience,outcome: facts,experts, trends #ses

wiredprworks: Jolina Pettice now talking about how to improve SEO with digital PR from TopRank #ses

wiredprworks: PR people for 100 yrs trying to measure results, now can get headline impressions, full page reads, #brand searches up 38% in 1 study #ses

wiredprworks: photo contest for Parents had 4,000, 6 weeks after online PR had 88,296 entries, can generate measurable traffic, build database #ses

wiredprworks: whole segment of bloggers mommy bloggers, picked up on Parents news and commented on it, also got traditional media, both w/ links #ses

wiredprworks: radical transformation, for 100 yrs you had to get past the gatekeeper, now you can get your story in front of consumer-mommy bloggers #ses

wiredprworks: SEO-PR case study Better Homes and Gardens, realease ranked #1 for Parents Magazine in Google News w/optimized photo gets higher rank #ses

wiredprworks: greg jarboe asking # seo & PR in audience, real win-win here is when both sides learn from each other #ses

wiredprworks: @barbchamberlain #ses = search engine stratgies SEO-PR session now

wiredprworks: small biz-sales tool, reach&credibility, everyone wants increased visibility, PR see releases as tool for branding, mktrs as optimizer #ses

barbchamberlain: @wiredprworks What’s the #ses tag? Yr tweets are interesting research findings.

wiredprworks: mktg pros ranked consumer above media, also interested in going to webmaster, press releases diff by segment: PR, marketing, small biz #ses

wiredprworks: #1 measurement of success, # of sites where published online and #2 # of online views #ses, news aggregators ranked higher than news sites

wiredprworks: PR activities being targeted to 1 journalists,2 bloggers 3 consumers #ses

wiredprworks: SCNR study mixed qualitative and quantitative research – surveyed marketers and small biz owners #ses

wiredprworks: live tweeting seo-pr #ses starts now with Wei from @prweb

9 Comments - Posted in SEO Tagged with:

Social Media Meets Networking – What Makes the Event?

Posted on December 8, 2008

IMG_2150Estimates go as high as 150 plus – that’s the number of people who showed up for Chicago Social Media Club’s December event, only our second ever. So . . . what makes a succesful social media networking event?

If you guessed people, you got the biggest answer right. Here’s a run down, in no real order of importance, of what made this a successful social media networking event, based on comments from our advisory board [I’m a founding member] and our guests.

Want to be a member? It’s free and there’s no registration required. Join Chicago Social Media Club on Facebook.

An Active Social Media Advisory board, including . . . .

Caitlin Rosberg, our event planner who works for the club’s first sponsor, We Seed.

Liz Strauss, Francine Mc Kenna, Sarah Evans, Bruce Montgomery, Andy Sernovitz, Jordan Levy, Daniel Honigman and Randy Likas for being our on-call advisors.

Amber Naslund also known as @ambercadabra on twitter who rounded up our first speaker, Jason Falls, set up our online survey and monitors the @smcchicago twitter updates.

A concierge who knows the territory. For us, that would be Theresa Carter aka The Local Tourist. Theresa’s great at recommending locations and knows which restaurants are easiest to work with.

A guy with a really big office. Here, we turn to Jeff Willinger whose company RightPoint Consulting will host our January event.

A Venue Made for Networking, including . . .

A sound system with more than one microphone. One for the speaker and a roaming wireless for audience questions is even better.

Refreshments, alcohol optional. Keep in mind that an “all ages” event opens the door to students who aren’t 21 yet.

Accessibility – make sure your venue is open to everyone and let your group know that it is.

Parking – let people know where to park and tell them about good deals. Here in Chicago, one block can make a $12 difference.

The vibe – every event has a life of its own, but you can orchestrate the tone a bit by adjusting the lights, music and checking in on conversations.

People who are Passionate about Social Media, including . . .

Speakers – hey, this IS social media. On a recent advisory board call, three people offered to be panel moderators [yes, I was one of them]. So, we decided to have a moderator to moderate the moderators – just kidding, but taking turns leading the discussion is a good thing.

People, people. people – again, no problem here. At first we thought maybe there were too many other similar groups in town. But, most of these tend to informal “tweet-ups” or get togethers for people who are on twitter.

A fantastic photographer, in our case @zemote who took this time setting up taking these Chicago Social Media Club event pictures.

Sponsors – giving the restaurant a pre-loaded gift card is an easy way to manage costs. Buying food is usually cheaper than paying for an open bar.

Friendly attendees – the best compliment last night came from someone who said “I can’t believe how social this group is. You all are so friendly.” While there’s no way to create a culture ahead of time, I’m happy to know that people like us – they really like us/each other.

Founders – a huge thanks to Kristie Wells of Social Media Club for all of her support and encouragement!

Who or what did I miss? Are you a Chicago Social Media Club member – or someone who’s interested in social media? Add your name and link back to your site in the comments section – we’d love to get to know you!

0 Comments - Posted in Social Media

Email Marketing Course | Five Days to Better Email Results

Posted on December 5, 2008

It’s Friday. I just crossed the 2,100 mark update on twitter and decided to share this ecourse I wrote to go out to my MTN newsletter subscribers. Now, my newsletter wears the Wired PR Works brand. Sending out a sequenced system like this works with email providers like Aweber – affiliate link.

Hope you find it useful. Because the report is seven pages long, I’m only posting the outline and the day one sequence here. To read the entire course, click the link and read the report or print it out. Let me know what you think.

5 Day Email Marketing Transformations Course

Day One: Brand Your Identity

Day Two: Present Offers the Crowd Can’t Resist

Day Three: How to Trigger Rapid Response

Day Four: Grow Your Own Groupies

Day Five: Measure What Works

Day 1/5 Email Marketing Transformations: Brand Your Identity

Welcome to day one of your Email Marketing Transformations. I’ll be checking in with you every day for the next five days.

Today’s topic is selecting a sender name that gets you noticed, brands your product or service and communicates who you are immediately.

If you’re like most email readers, the first thing you do when you open your inbox is scan the list of sender’s names. You want to know right away who’s trying to get your attention.

This may seem like a simple lesson – it is – yet, choosing and using your sender email address is your first step to marketing your business, products or your services online successfully.

So, let’s start with the basics . . .

What is a sender name and how does it differ from my email address?

The sender name is the name you select in Outlook and other email interface tools that identifies the message source. So, depending on which account I’m using, you’ll see emails coming from -

Barbara Rozgonyi – or Barbara Rozgonyi CoryWest – or Barbara Rozgonyi Wired PR Works.

Up until a few months ago, I used CoryWest, which worked to brand my company and make us look bigger, but carried no personal connection. New contacts often called me Cory, not Barbara, because they were recognizing the email sender name as my name.

But I didn’t know how confusing this really was until someone confessed that they were having trouble distinguishing between Cory and Barbara in the minds. So, I decided to add my name to my company name. Now, users get more clarity when they communicate with our parent company.

Members of the Marketing Transformations Network may not come directly in contact with CoryWest, but they will know get to know me. That’s why they see – Barbara Rozgonyi MTN – in the sender line.

So, what would I advise you to do?

If you own a company, request that everyone who communicates from your email system use at least their first, and preferably also their last name, along with the company name. For example, Michael Regent Accounting Pros tells you who from Accounting Pros is trying to reach you.

If you’re self-employed or promoting a product, you can test different sender names like “Time Saver” or “Beauty Secrets” or “Money Manager.” This marketing tactic may either draw in readers or drive them away. That’s why we recommend testing sender names – you may even want to survey your top customers to see what they respond to.

How do you set up a sender name?

In Outlook, go to accounts and enter the name you want to use. Some email hosts will not offer this option – they will only allow you to select an email address. If that’s the case, always use a domain based email address. For example, if your site is www.wowdowehaveideas.com and your name is Beth, then a possible email address could be beth@wowdowehaveideas.com. This way, every time you give out your email address, you promote your business.

1 Comment - Posted in Marketing Blog Tagged with: ,

Teleseminar Secrets Course Recommendation

Posted on December 4, 2008

Barbara_Rozgonyi_and_Alex_Mandossian_LA_2006

It’s teleseminar training time. Alex Mandossian is on the phone right now giving away some great information about his course that teaches you how to market your business using teleseminars.

This is an affiliate link that takes you to a page to a $20 preview call offer. You’ll get access to a three-hour recording packed with information that will help you break into teleseminars, including what to do and case studies that show you how to produce your own teleseminars. Yes, I get paid. Anyone who sells the course gets the commission and there are a variety of offers out there. It might be too late to write about this product; there’s a limited number of open seats. And, you should check out what other people are offering if you’re considering buying. My offer?

- 8 hours of Ultimate PR Secrets master recordings, valued at $397

- 1.5 hours of personalized teleseminar social media and online PR marketing coaching, valued at $450

To claim your bonuses, you have to buy TSS through my affiliate site at www.teleseminar-secrets-revealed.com and then email a copy of your receipt to connect AT corywestmedia.com.

Why I Recommend Teleseminar Secrets

Thanks to Alex, I produced Ultimate PR Secrets, a program that introduced me to eight of the biggest names in the PR business. Alex gave me the information, but he also motivated me to get up the courage to call the speakers and the tools I needed to get produce the virtual seminar.

Tonight he’s introducing the next version. The training includes live phone calls with Alex, recordings, transcripts, special offers, admission to a mastermind group, a pre-loaded learn pod with over 60 CDs of his best teleseminars, website templates, tested email templates, private resources lists and lifetime alumni privileges.a pre

If you want to study how to market online, manage affiliates and package information, this program is worth the price. But, if you’re not going to work it right away, take a pass. And, if you don’t have that kind of money to invest, don’t buy it. This program isn’t for everybody. It is for people who are looking for a system that works that comes with copy, affiliate marketing instruction, web designs and mastermind connections.

When I bought the program in 2005, it was a stretch to pay that much, but I’m so glad I did. It’s a great class, Alex is a master teacher and he discounts almost every single course he offers to his alums.

Originally Published in December 2007

How unusual – my second post of the day with a recommendation for something that makes you and your business better. Interested in becoming a Teleseminar Secrets [link goes to my affiliate site] student? Here’s my story.  But, you don’t have to buy in yet – just listen to the Teleseminar Secrets preview call for $20 before December 5, 2008 [changed for this year's date].

In November 2006, I first mentioned Alex Mandossian’s Teleseminar Secrets on this blog and heavily promoted the program to my ezine subscribers.

Why?

Let’s go back to the beginning. Make that December 2005 . . . can you remember two years ago?

Follow me, I know the way. Surely you remember going to the best of the last of the 2005 movies – King Kong and Brokeback Mountain ring a bell?

Now, do you know where you 24 months ago?

I do. I was – not – into Internet marketing or thinking of myself as much of an expert in anything when along comes my friend Jenny who emails me to let me know I should be taking a course from some guy she knows named Alex. And, by the way it costs $1800. “But not for you,” she says because “I’ll split my commission. And, I’ll have a study group to keep you on track.”

So began my fate-full decision to become an Alex Mandossian student. I dropped out of book group; played Alex live on my speaker phone; learned how to market and host a teleseminar and even offered free teleseminar marketing and production to 200 of my closest colleagues. Thankfully, only one took me up on it.

My first teleseminar, “How to Transform Your Company Into a Customer Magnet,” become my ethical bribe in exchange for an email opt-it for over a year. In January, I produced Ultimate PR Secrets, a virtual PR event. 

Part coach, part professor, part long-distance mastermind colleague, Alex is one of the best teachers and marketers I know. After I went through TSS, I bought into many other continuing education programs. Finding someone with Alex’s skill, finesse and dedication to his students’ success is genuinely refreshing. And, once you become a TSS student, you are a teleseminarian for life.

Last year, my blog was one of a handful that promoted or mentioned TSS.

Although searches for Teleseminar Secrets wind up here, this is my first 2008 promo post. Considering the doors close tomorrow, I’m on the late[r] side. I’m struggling with keeping a balance between information and promotional blogging.

Speaking of blogging, in last night’s TSS preview call, it was clear the host himself is a big blogger:  Alex Mandossian’s blog.

Last night Alex said he was into dialogue. The lines went dead for a few minutes after he opened them for comments from callers. An early blip in an otherwise flawless call, Alex used the line drop as proof that engaging callers is important. Engaging readers is important, too and that’s why he uses so much video on his blog.

Beyond the move into blogging, my other big takeaway from last night’s call is Alex’s suggestion that the marketing funnel isn’t working. I agree with him when he says he’d rather have 10 $2000 students than 200 $10 ebook buyers. When you take away the ladder, funnel or whatever you call it and let the buyers buy in where they want, everyone wins. Why make someone buy in sequences when they want to start at the top? Do you agree? What do you think?

Oh . . . here’s my 2008 Teleseminar Secrets bonus offer:

- 8 hours of Ultimate PR Secrets master recordings, valued at $397

- 1.5 hours of personalized teleseminar social media and online PR marketing coaching, valued at $450

To claim your bonuses, you have to buy TSS through my affiliate site at www.teleseminar-secrets-revealed.com and then email a copy of your receipt to connect AT corywestmedia.com.

1 Comment - Posted in Teleseminars Tagged with: ,