This blog includes posts on lead generation, eMarketing, Web Marketing, SEO and other leading edge marketing techniques.
-Alan Blume
All posts with the tag 'LinkedIn'
LinkedIn Tops 100 Million Mark
Posted on March 25th, 2011 by Alan Blume
On March 22nd LinkedIn reached a major milestone, eclipsing 100 million members worldwide. That’s a pretty significant number, one which according to LinkedIn is now growing at “roughly one million new LinkedIn members every week, the equivalent of a professional joining the site at faster than one member per second.”
LinkedIn sent me an email, noting that I was member number 356,048, an early adopter according to their email. I’m sure many of you reading this blog joined even earlier. The lesson here is about change, a roller coaster of change. Sometimes it takes a while for the coaster to make it up that big first hill, and then, it comes speeding down the track, weaving and winding its way toward a final destination. Of course on a coaster it is a known destination while on the internet, the horizon remains a vague blur. In both cases we can anticipate many unexpected (and sometimes thrilling) turns along the way. LinkedIn is now speeding down the track, and like any other roller coaster, and internet related things in general, don’t expect things to be in the same place very long. The internet is changing our lives and doing so quickly.
Many industries are in the process of climbing up that first roller coaster hill. And once they hit the peak, the subsequent velocity can be truly amazing. What’s changed so far? Social networking of course, trade shows, seminars, book publishing, etailing, newspapers, news reporting, public relations, marketing, banking, auctions and telecommuting to name just a few. Next up is movies and television. We’ve already seen some significant changes here – and we’re still climbing up that first roller coaster hill. Will traditional network TV be supplemented by a vast array of online, homegrown shows, or will it be replaced. Will individual reality shows be home produced and become the norm, or will the audience still prefer to see a professionally (if I can use that term) produced reality show? Will movies change, all but the mega special effect blockbuster replaced by indie movies, once pervasive and cheap internet distribution is available? Will we soon be watching news broadcasts and TV shows predominately on our Androids and iPhones? My eyes say no, though my brain says it will someday be likely.
Marketing has already hit the top of the hill and is changing rapidly. Telemarketing is on the decline, search marketing optimization, blogging, ePublishing and social media marketing are becoming mainstream. What’s the next big change we can expect to see? There are many expected, and they will likely change our lives, and optimistically I’d like to say for the better. Congratulations to LinkedIn on achieving this significant milestone, I use it (and so do many of my colleagues) every day – and it sounds like many, many others are finding value with this new network too.
Search Engine Optimization and Long Tail Keywords
Posted on August 24th, 2010 by Alan Blume
Over the past year our company embarked upon an SEO experiment. We tested several techniques using numerous keyword phrases to determine how fast we could rise in the organic search engine results (the non advertisement results listed in a Google, Yahoo or Bing search). One of our primary target markets is insurance agencies, so we selected a dozen long-tail keyword phrases germane to this market. When we began this experiment, we were ranked very low, in some cases as low as page 10 on Google, in other cases we were simply unranked. Our goal was to rapidly reach page one on Google search results.
We began with a keyword analysis, determining which phrases we deemed most valuable to our marketing services agency and which keyword phrases had less competition. Long-tail keywords are typically three word phrases and more specific than a broad based single keyword. For example, “California Transportation Litigation” would be a good example of a long-tail keyword phrase, whereas “Litigation” would be a very broad keyword. “Insurance Agent Leads” would be another long-tail example while “Insurance” is another example of a broad and seemingly vague keyword.
Some of the long-tail keyword phrases we chose included:
- Insurance Agency SEO
- Insurance Agency Leads
- Trucking Agency Leads
- Trucking Agency Marketing
As of this writing we are ranked Google page one for all of these long-tail keywords. We currently appear as the #1 entry for the first three long-tail keyword phrases and we appear #2 for trucking agency marketing. Some of these terms are highly focused, with 100 to 200 searches per year; other keyword phrases we selected are searched thousands or tens of thousands of times per year. We appear on Google page one (and Yahoo for that matter) for many other of our selected long-tail keyword phrases. How long did this take? In almost all cases, Google page one rankings were accomplished in 90 days. We have also seen similar results for many of our B2B clients, which tend to be professional service companies, insurance agencies or B@B technology companies.
How is this accomplished? We approached our SEO experiment using both on page and off page optimization techniques. The on page techniques included the modification of:
- Page Title
- Description
- Keywords
- H1-H4 Tags
- Alt Image Tags
- Keyword Density
- Blog Integration
- Dynamic Content
There were many additional on page optimizations used, but the changes noted above are of critical importance. Off page optimization included ePublishing, directory submissions, link building, blog distribution, and social media marketing. There is almost no limit to the amount of content which can be generated outside of your website, but you have to start somewhere and then continue to invest in your content development. Though it may seem obvious, all of the off page optimization requires a link back to your website. More links is one of the many elements the search engines use when deciding which web sites to display in their organic search listings.
As of this writing, an increasing number of our new clients are arriving from the efforts noted above, with SEO, LinkedIn, ePublishing, and blogging now generating over 25 % of our new business activity. We believe that the list above will soon constitute 50% of the leads generated for our own business, and expect other companies to find a similar result over time. Many of these topics are covered in my recently released book, Your Virtual Success, available online and at all major bookstores.
www.startupselling.com www.alanblume.com www.yourvirtualsuccess.net
If Someone Hands You a Scalpel, It Doesn’t Make You a Surgeon – You Should Think of Web Marketing in the Same Way
Posted on June 19th, 2010 by Alan Blume
There are many powerful marketing tools now available, everything from eMarketing engines and Search Engine Optimization Tools to ePublishing and Web Seminar Software. Any of these tools can be very helpful to your business, but placed in the wrong hands, 
they can be extremely dangerous. Not long ago, a CEO mentioned to me that they were sending out tens of thousands of emails through their eMarketing “platform” and they could do so very inexpensively. Their platform (let’s call it an integrated web site and eMarketing system) could send out as many emails as they wanted. Their provider suggested they contact some email list brokers where they could buy tens of thousands of emails. They even had some sample emails from other companies they could use.
Unfortunately, their email “blasts” of tens of thousands of emails, purchased from a list broker, resulted in no response. Literally, nobody responded to their offer. This is a good example of placing the aforementioned scalpel in the hands of a layperson. Placing this type of technology in the hands of untrained individuals is a recipe for failure, regardless of the ease of use of the application. This example is laden with huge issues:
- The email list they purchased looked like a low quality list, with first name, middle initial and last name all merged into one field, resulting in problematic personalization.
- The company was trying to “sell” something in their email – always try to educate or enlighten
- The email was graphically rich (a definite issue for many spam filters)
- Large scale email blasts often result in your prospects blocking your email address or in some cases your domain.
- They already burned their first opportunity to make a positive impression with all of these potential prospects
So before you hit the button and blast out 10,000 or 20,000 emails, and before you decide to run some of your own webinars:
- Carefully study emails which you receive and like – why are they good – why did you open it
- Attend webinars which sound interesting and relevant to you – how long are they – did you stay
- Read a book about these new web marketing topics – read a few
- Seek advice and guidance from experts in the field – surgeons get training and so should you
Make your web marketing operation safe and successful by combining advanced tools with knowledge and training to ensure the health of your program initiatives.
We have set up 15 Web Meetings from our Seminar Attendee List!
Posted on March 1st, 2010 by Alan Blume
I received the message above in an email first thing this morning. Our New Jersey based insurance agency client was extremely happy with their web seminar results. 300 executives registered, 161 attended and they already set up web meetings with 15 of those attendees. These web meetings are important for several reasons:
• They help the insurance agency and business executive reciprocally determine if there is a match between needs and services
• The meeting venue is efficient for both parties (he Insurance Agency doesn’t need to hop in a car and drive 30 minutes each way to visit their prospective client)
• The Insurance Agency can review relevant materials via the web meeting, a more powerful opportunity than a mere conference call
Of course, they already have strong credibility level, these attendees were privy to an excellent, educationally oriented speaker. We had advised this agency client to leverage an industry expert – and they did – a legal expert. The content was impressive, current and educational. No selling took place in the web seminar. Web seminar goals should be to educate prospects and initiate a dialogue – it should never be about selling.
TKO – Client Always Wins – Virtual or Not
Posted on February 11th, 2010 by Alan Blume
I recently ran into a dispute with a vendor I use. I use the term vendor in this case, because during the dispute my perspective about them changed from a partner to a vendor. I had signed a one year agreement with them at price point A, and when I went to reorder, they asked for a new price higher then price point A. I was working with a new sales person; my original sales person had departed for parts unknown. The new sales guy towed the company line, leveraged all the standard catch phrases like undervalued, new pricing parameters, top down management directive. These probably made perfect sense to him but I thought I signed a one year agreement. Technically – he said, I didn’t have a one year contract – reorders weren’t actually part of the agreement. Hmmm… in a way, he was going to win this dispute. After all, I wasn’t likely to sue his firm. But what he and many others don’t realize is that you can’t win an argument with a customer on a technicality (I would simply say you can’t win any argument with a customer – you lose as soon as you start arguing).
I asked to speak to his manager – was initially told that wasn’t necessary. In today’s virtual world, however, shielding management doesn’t work if a customer is really ticked off. So, I simply went to LinkedIn, searched for senior managers at the firm, and reached out to them. To their credit, they responded promptly, and honored the intent of my agreement. If things continue on a positive path, they might regain my complete trust and loyalty. If there is any hiccup of any type, I’ll move my business right away. In this virtual world, if you are a customer service person, a sales representative or simply a customer, you should always assume that the senior most management of your company or almost any company is just one or two degrees away – easy to contact from a virtual and pragmatic perspective.
You’re Too Old – or is it just your copyright
Posted on January 22nd, 2010 by Alan Blume
If you were a main street retailer, your window display might look a tad tired and dusty, it might seem overly familiar. The colors on your merchandise slightly faded from the afternoon sun. This would be an obvious sign of neglect, not caring very much about your clients or prospective clients. Your web site should be thought of in much the same way. Of course there is no afternoon sun and faded colors to contend with, but there is the problem of internet dust in the form of your copyright notice. Most web sites have a copyright notice on the bottom of their site, or somewhere else on their site. How old is yours? I’ve seen sites with copyrights that are 3, 5 and even 10 years old. When clients and prospects see this, they realize you’re not paying much attention to your internet front window. Perhaps they are wondering what else you are missing. It’s a small but important detail. Then again, if your copyright is three years old, when did you last update and refine your web site?
Partnering with your Virtual Clients
Posted on January 15th, 2010 by Alan Blume
Not long ago, we signed on a new client in California. I try to think of clients as partners, and my service team tries to help them, responding to their requests immediately, which in a virtual business, means the moment they call or within a few minutes of their call. Conversely, as a partner, I have no hesitation asking, from time to time, if they can help us too. A case in point revolves around an insurance agency client who needed a fairly significant amount of help in running a web seminar. As usual, we helped them with their email list, handled all the registration, webinar infrastructure and moderation. But we also spent a significant amount of time coaching their speakers, and ran an extra couple of practice sessions for them without hesitation.
They closed a million dollar client from their well rehearsed web seminar, a prospect who had up until that time, been unwilling to meet with them. That’s an impressive story, one which would be better told by our client than ourselves. So we asked them if they would be a guest speaker at one of our prospective client web seminars – and they readily agreed. We’ve never met our client, face to face, and probably never will. Nonetheless, we feel the same level of gratitude and appreciation as we would if they were located down the street. Though we may often be a great physical distance from our clients, in some ways, we feel closer to them today than in our haphazard, travel laden, brick and mortar days. www.alanblume.com www.startupseling.com
How to “Insure” the Success of New Salespeople
Posted on January 8th, 2010 by Alan Blume
A month ago I hired a sales contractor who we’ll call “Joe”. Joe has three years of sales experience in business insurance, but found the 60 hour work weeks and mundane nuances of insurance to be less than 100% fulfilling. He sought a better balance for his working schedule, greater income opportunities and the opportunity to create his own business. Most organizations fail to create a winning game plan for new hires. Too often I hear of companies that hire two new salespeople, “put them in a room and throw the Yellow Pages at them” to borrow a quote from a recent client of mine.
On Joe’s first day, we created a target prospect list, set up an eMarketing campaign to 3,000 companies, created a custom call script, set up a web seminar on a topic of interest (Integrated Marketing for Insurance Agencies) and scheduled an emailing for the next day. On day two, the emailing was sent and Joe was already responding to inquiries, calling on click through and web seminar respondents. On day three, Joe has already set up web meetings with prospects (Joe set up 4 meetings in his first week). By the end of week #2, Joe had closed his first client, and then closed another one week later.
Granted, there are longer sales cycle solutions than lead generation and marketing services engagements, but I’ve seen this Virtual Sales and Marketing approach (the 4-Phase Virtual Sales Process) work with essentially every B2B business product, service or solution. So when you hire a new sales agent, contract or employee, make sure you have a virtual game plan and start them off with some well rehearsed plays. If you get an early lead – you’ll win the game.
For more information read Your Virtual Success goto www.startupselling.com.