I am logged into one web application all day long no matter what and that is Performancing Metrics. It is the easiest to use and most powerful analytics system for blogging that I have ever used. It is not a full blown analytics system, but it is everything I need for tracking my weblogs traffic. 
From its live spy feature that tracks users while they are on the site to detail IP data about users and an interface that accommodates multiple weblogs, it is well worth what I pay for a subscription. 
The beautiful thing about it though is that they have a free version so you can give it a run first without paying a dime. Go try it. You will be very glad you did.
Update: One really cool feature is the ability to assign a name or any moniker to an IP address. Certain companies visit my FaxChronicle.com website that are in that industry and I like to know how often they do. Again, this is a great product. I cannot recommend it enough. Try it out now.
Link to User home | Performancing Metrics
Technorati tags: tracking, analytics, sem, performancing, google, spy, visitor tracking, IP logging, log tracking, behavioral tracking
Guy Kawasaki always posts great ideas and tips on his web site for building and growing businesses. I met him years ago at one of his Garage conferences and have been impressed ever since. He is a fantastic speaker and mentor.
This post is from a friend of his that is a professional singer and public speaker. I am a huge advocate for public speaking as a way to generate business (promote) for your company. It has always worked for me and should work for you to. This post covers fantastic ideas for making sure you give your best when speaking to groups. I especially like the one about pretending you are speaking for a Queen. Go read the entire post. You will find every tip is excellent and they go way beyond imagining your audience naked.
Circulate with your audience. Before every concert, speech, and seminar, I try to mingle with the crowd, ask questions, and let them know I’m glad they came. This isn’t always possible in the real world, but when it is, I have an opportunity to feel a bond with the people I’m about to perform for and undo some of the jitters that are a natural part of being “on.”
Snarl. If people can’t hear you, they won’t listen to you. Add some nasal resonance to your voice, but keep smiling. Snarl is that nasal sound you get when you speak partially from your nose instead of your mouth. It generates overtones above 2,800 cycles per second that make any room “sing.” Pretend you’re trying to yell/warn a child that’s about to run out in front of a bus—like yelling, “STOP!” This works whether you’re using a microphone or speaking without one
Bite your tongue. If your mouth gets dry in the middle of your presentation, try gently biting your tongue. Opera singers use this all the time to release saliva which moistens your mouth.
Perform for a hero. Several years ago I was asked to sing a command performance for the Queen of Spain. I worked harder on that concert than any I have ever sung. It was very successful and I was proud of my preparation. From that time on I imagined I was about to sing for the queen, it made me twice the performer I had been previously. Pick a hero, and give them your best shot!
Source: How to Change the World
Very interesting data about local market usage levels. Hate to sound crass, but some of the places would normally be associated with places that are boring or cold. I said some, before you come after us. Other locations are more interesting and may speak to the population having more idle time such as Mobile-Pensacola. Still though, these are also good ways to think about what you offer and how. If you were to target these markets or other segments that are longer browsers on the net, then you may be able to promote yourself via lengthier and more identity establishing methods like videos, chats, and other interactions like presentations and case studies.
Of course as I always say, you then have to test and track the value of the lead or customer. Make sure it all ties together.
The unique visitors data was more “traditional” or “predictable in its results.
Local markets aren’t created equally. Nielsen//NetRatings tracks the top 10 markets by time spent online and unique visitors for the month of April.
The data are part of the MegaView local set. Nielsen//NetRatings uses a random-digit-dial panel and metering technology to report audience measurement and advanced tracking.
Source: Top 10 Local Markets online, April 2007
This is a fantastic piece over on Small Business Hub, by Mike Volpe. Great insight on a free resource,
Many small businesses do not know that you can get some FREE advertising on Google, using Google Local or Google Maps. Google is looking to increase the value of their local search and their mapping application, so they have a simple way for you to tell them some information about your business, and now they are infusing those results into their main search engine. This will help you show up in searches and get more traffic, leads and customers. For example, a nonprofit volunteer organization I work with called the Boston Scholars Program is now listed at the TOP of the Google search results for searches like “volunteer in boston“, “volunteer boston ma“, and “volunteer boston, ma“. See the image below.
Source: Free Advertising on Google – A How To Guide
Excellent points throughout this article. I would like to quote a great deal more, but I would be way beyond fair use on it. If you are hiring folks to provide you with web marketing or any kind of marketing services, then this piece will arm you well for proving the value.
When you’re looking at website operations or online marketing technology solutions, you’re probably already challenging yourself with these types of questions:
- What are the strategic business challenges we are looking to solve with this technology solution?
- What will success look like? Should we save 20 percent with this solution? Should we increase revenue by 10 percent? Or, should our cost per lead go down by a third?
- How much will this particular solution contribute to that particular metric?
Then, if your vendor uses an ROI pitch to sell you the technology solution, challenge them with these questions:
- How does your solution help us deliver against these specific business objectives?
- What are you willing to do to help us achieve these business objectives?
- Can we depend on you to deliver this ROI and help us with the ongoing improvements to either deliver against it or to continually improve on it?
Source: iMedia Connection: Proving ROI Made Simple
Technorati tags: writing, ROI, web marketing, consultant, consulting, web development, project management, new media, interactive
My friend Sumantra Roy wrote a great piece published over at Web Marketing Today on the 10 most important factors to test on your landing pages. This is an excellent overview of the critical issues all advertisers must consider on Adwords or anywhere else on the web. It’s all about the landing pages and testing. If you really want to test properly, then you should check out Sumantra’s company Conversion Multiplier. Their technology is fantastic and their results are amazing. I’ve seen results from his multi-variate testing increasing conversions up to 600%. Call them and tell them Brad Nickel at ClickBrain.com sent you.
…these are all based on actual tests that we conducted for our clients.
1. Long Copy vs. Short Copy. Conventional direct marketing wisdom is that long copy always wins over short copy. Well, not always. Our tests show that while long copy wins over short copy in some cases, short copy performs better than long copy in others. …
2. Credibility Logos. Signing up with organizations like the Better Business Bureau (BBB) and Hacker Safe and displaying their logos on your site can often significantly increase your conversions. But, don’t assume that this will always be the case …3. Security Assurance in Order Form or Shopping Cart. Test whether adding a few lines of content somewhat prominently in your order form or shopping cart page assuring visitors about the security of their financial and personal data increases conversions. This often proves to be a very important variable especially if your target audience tends to be somewhat older in age, or somewhat new to purchasing things on the Internet.
Click on over to read the rest of the piece. Source: 10 Factors to Test that Could Increase the Conversion Rate of your Landing Pages
Technorati tags: marketing, testing, multi-variate testing, split testing, copy, writing, landing page, landing pages, advertising, adwords, conversion, conversion multiplier, conversions
Excellent piece on how to write good headlines to draw readers of your newsletter to your site.
A recent iMedia cover story on behavioral targeting has this headline: “Why Your Creative Needs to Catch-Up.”
This is a good, challenging title. It’s going to attract some readers, but not others, because not everyone wants a challenge.
The word “Why” is, in western culture, a defensible word. This means people being asked “Why…?” feel they need to defend themselves. All you need do is look at someone and say “why” with no inflection and their blood pressure goes up, their pulse quickens, their breathing shallows out and their irises go wide.
The physiologic responses are fascinating and are flight or fight based, not good when you want someone to accept information you’re providing them or inviting them to explore your content further.
So, while “Why Your Creative Needs to Catch-Up” is good, “Your Creative Needs to Catch-Up Because…” is better because the “Because” is a promise that the answer is coming. The reader doesn’t really need to respond. There’s no reason to defend, thus energy spent unintentionally raising blood pressure, et cetera, can be spent intentionally exploring the content.
You can even up the ante by adding “(Five Experts Speak)” or something similar. “Your Creative Needs to Catch-Up (Five Experts Speak)”. Understand your audience and you’ll know whether “Your Creative Needs to Catch-Up Because…” or “Your Creative Needs to Catch-Up (Five Experts Speak)” will drive your numbers heavenward.
Source: iMedia Connection: Headlines That Attract Attention
I am all hot and bothered over video “advertising”, but not so much advertising. I want real world customers and users testifying as to the value of a customer’s services, products, and overall value. Yesterday I met with a major retailer about their online SEM and other marketing needs and I believe very strongly that that firm could get a lot of value by adding customer testimonials as well as real life case studies. I also am pushing clients into community and content with video as well to drive lower cost search engine marketing (SEM) by utilizing indirect terms to content rather “buy this” terms. I call it “Indirect SEM” “Indirect Search Engine Marketing (Maybe I should trademark it).
Great content alone doesn’t cut it. Marketers need to put their online video content to work across a number of different channels. With promotional campaigns, high-quality destination sites and custom channel branding, marketers can increase user interaction and participation while communicating their message to a wider and more engaged audience than ever before.
The real challenge of online video is about what (as in what makes good video content, if you don’t have good content then you’re toast anyways) and it’s about where: figuring out how and where to use online video, while still maintaining the integrity of brand. If done right, there are a variety of ways for companies to distribute and display online video to grab an audience and retain their attention.
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A great example of a recent successful promotional contest is the collaboration JVC developed with VMIX. VMIX provided a platform and a JVC custom channel for the “Create Our Commercial Contest,” which asked individuals to submit self-produced ads that they filmed with their new JVC Everio camera to the VMIX JVC channel.The online video contest produced more than 80 quality entries for JVC, garnered national print and web publicity for JVC and the winner, and ultimately provided a major grassroots marketing campaign for JVC, targeting lifestyle, college, retail and events. The winner of the online promotional contest received $2,500 and saw his commercial aired on Spike TV.
Source: iMedia Connection: Veni, Video, Vici: Conquer Online Video
