Content Based SEO

Wondering what the big deal is about Google Wave?  So was I–even after I got an invite to the Beta preview.  Then I learned about a little thing called–oh wait.  First a little disclaimer:

You don’t have to know tech to get Wave.  I just explained the whole concept to my mom, who barely even knows what a World Wide Web is, and she got it.  Or so she tells me.  And I didn’t even have the benefit of a business framework to wrap around it.

Google Wave will be important in the same way that the first Web browser was important, and for much the same reason: there’s a new (sort of) way of interacting electronically, and Wave is the first mass-user-friendly application that can take care of that.

The Most Important Part About Google Wave is Bigger than Google Wave.

The best way I know to put this is that Wave is in many ways the 2009 equivilant to Mosaic, the Web browser that sparked the World Wide Web from something barely known into the broad, popular phenominon (some would say “essential public service”) that it is today.

Mosiac did this by working with the HTTP protocol (I’ll spare you the technical details; it’s the protocol you see in the leftmost of your address bar in any browser you use).  It allowed us to view text and images as part of the same page, instead of as two separate things.  Suddenly, users could view the page as a whole.  Wave is doing something similar for a protocol called XMPP.

XMPP is modeled on communication.  It is modeled after the way conversations work.  The protocol has been used for chat, voice over internet telephony, even customer support and emergency response.

What Makes XMPP the Best Thing Since Broadband?

First, this protocol takes out the middleman.  It makes for more direct electronic communication.

Let’s say you want to chat with someone on Facebook.  Your end of the conversation is routed through a server in Vegas and your friend or associate is in Atlanta, where his end is also routed through a server.  Your chat has to be routed through Facebook back and forth between the two of you.

Using wave–or anything that uses XMPP–takes Facebook out of the equation.  You can still have something that works a lot like Facebook via different applications that work on your Wave.  But now those apps are hosted on servers in Vegas and Atlanta and there is no need for a third party.

The Machine Will Finally Start Talking To Us.

Right now, applications are environments we work in.  But they are turning into partners that we work with.  Wave makes some pretty big steps in that direction.

In fact, using apps with Google Wave will likely become more and more like interacting with humans on chat.  Scary, huh?  It’s the future.  And it’s probably going to be a lot of fun.

It’s also going to mean a lot of change–for the way we talk to each other, the way we do search engine optimization, and the way we do business online.  There are a lot of reasons for this, and I want to talk about them in my next few posts.

Take a Week to Learn About Wave.

I’ll discuss what it means to have a communication-centered electronic environment versus a protocol-based one.  This is going to change the way you interact, via electronic media, with humans.

It will also change how you interact with electronic applications (spoiler: you’ll interact with them more as if they were people, instead of just electronic apps).

I’ll talk about what it means to your company that Google Wave is open-source and rebrandable (hint: some companies are already playing with the technology and creating their own branded Wave interfaces; this is something you won’t want to get left behind on).

Finally, a little speculation about what search engine optimization and online business may look like in an XMPP/Google Wave world.

So you have your blog, your Twitter account and your Facebook page and nothing is really happening for you. Are you using it how you should? Are you taking full advantage of what social media has to offer? Probably not! 

Don’t Forget the “Social” Part

It is “social media” after all. Be sociable and get your personality out there. When you are writing for your blog let your personality shine. Unless you are extremely boring, and can only come up with some mind-numbing content,  you need to promote yourself through your social media platforms.  If you happen to be one of those engineer type personalities, perhaps it is you that needs a good ghost writer.

Not to stray too far from the subject matter here, but that does bring up one of my favorite jokes:

Q.  What does an engineer use for birth control?

A.  His Personality

Sarcasm and Witt Never Hurts

Afraid of causing any controversy because you might alienate some of your traffic? Don’t worry about it. Controversial subjects often bring more traffic, more comments, and more awareness of…who else? YOU! Write what you think and don’t look back. Interject some sarcasm and witt to keep your readers alert. You just might be surprised what it can do for you and whatever it is you are promoting.

Stand Out from the Internet Crowd

More and more businesses are using social media to build their business. So what makes you stand out from the crowd? Whether it is something miniscule or huge that’s the message you need to be getting out there on the world wide web. Think about it and ask yourself some questions:

• Are all the widgets green and yours is blue?
• Are your products manufactured in the United States while your competition imports from China?
• Are you an all female business in a male dominated industry? Or vice versa for those of you who might think I am gender biased.
• Is your product cheaper but better?
• Does your customer service guarantee immediate results?

Softly Promote

The internet is full of spam, advertising, and links galore. Don’t always be promoting your business or product. Tell the world something interesting and unique. Be daring and don’t even put a link in your post or blog.

Your Social Media ROI

Return on Investment is almost always determined and measured through sales. Use your social media avenues to get a bigger return at a nominal cost. Internet marketing can be fun and easier than you might think. It beats pay-per-click and besides a better ROI it will bring you some personal satisfaction. You got yourself out there and made it happen.

Did you know that an astounding 83% of press releases are ineffective?  The sad fact is that, while many people have good intentions, very few actually know how to write a press release that makes someone stop and read it.

I think that the number one problem is simple–formatting.  If people would keep in mind that formatting is not just a formality, they would find that more people stop and read their article opposed to an article with huge blocks of text that goes on and on and on…

Why Does the Length of a Paragraph Matter with Online Press Releases?

Back in the days of high school and college composition, your teacher was looking for more than two sentences in a paragraph that included a topic sentence, three supporting sentences, and a conclusion.  Now, things just don’t work like that in cyber space.  You are dealing with very short attention spans here.

When your prospect hops online looking for some recent news on the latest product that you just released, they need something that their eye can skim over.  If you want it picked up by other journalists, bloggers, and social media, you need to make sure it has scanability.

People are tired, overworked, and overloaded with information.  What makes you so special that you are going to capture their attention with your lengthy explanations?  Break those paragraphs up to something like three or four lines.

And if you already understand the concept of short paragraphs, make sure you don’t forget the line breaks, too.

How to Use Capital Letters in an Online Press Release

As you can already tell from my subheaders and titles, I prefer Title Case.  If you really don’t want to do Title Case, just capitalize all the letters.  Most places will accept it this way.  If you decide not to capitalize anything, expect it to be sent back.

If you decide to CAPITALIZE EVERYTHING, definitely expect it to be sent back.  And if it isn’t sent back, expect to offend some of your prospects because they feel like you are shouting at them.

You can easily have your Word program do this by going to Tools> Change Capitals> and Title Case.

More Press Release Tips to Come

If you want to know more about how to write a press release, over the next 7 days, I will be writing what I refer to as the 7 Deadly Sins of the Press Release Writer.  We’ll be covering quotes, images, linking, keywords, newsworthiness, and promoting your press release.

Until then, remember–formatting is not just a formality!  If writing a press release seems overwhelming, you can always hire a team of highly qualified press release writers to do the job correctly.

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I was recently in a meeting with Guerin Senter, owner of Firebird Financial. Firebird Financial is a licensed Certified Public Accounting firm in Nevada and specializes in financial records clean up. While discussing his business I asked him what he considered his best quality. He quickly stated, “I do what I say and I call people back.”  WOW! What a novel approach to business! This has become far too rare in today’s busy lifestyle.

Don’t Tell Me You Will if You Won’t

Is it just in Vegas where this is a phenomenon, or is the world turning into a bunch of non-responsive and unreliable slugs? I attend many meetings and events and meet many people with promises and guarantees. Soon enough you find out that some of the promises meant nothing and I am lucky if I get a phone call returned. Please, spare me the trouble…don’t tell me you will if you won’t.

Surround Yourself with a Dependable Environment

So as not to sound too negative here, I must say I have surrounded myself with business associates and friends that are sound, reliable, and a pleasure to associate and work with on a daily basis. But this has taken the sometimes unpleasant task of eliminating people from my environment.

I’ve become a fairly good judge of people and most often operate on the theory that if I have any doubts it’s probably best left alone. Not that chances aren’t good to take sometimes; but when we are talking character it is so much better to be surrounded by positive, dependable people.

Make Your Deals with Reliable Companies

The internet marketing world is full of “white hats” and “black hats”. Finding an ethical and reliable company to provide you with a legitimate online marketing campaign does not have to be a chore.  Deal with a company that makes a point to follow the simple rules of doing what they say and calling people back.

Reputations follow us all through life. Omissions are so easy to make but so hard to forget. Thanks to Guerin for reminding me!

Zynga Games Could be in Deep Trouble

Looks like Facebook and Zynga are now defendants in a class action lawsuit filed last Tuesday in the Northern District of California . This lawsuit is seeking at least $5,000,000 in damages for social media “victims” who were scammed in online game ads. As a Zynga Mafia Wars player I have never been scammed by any of the online offers but I’m sure many have been lured to purchase items to increase their strength.

Mafia Wars

My own personal interest in this story revolves around my partial addiction to Zynga’s Mafia Wars. Perhaps saying “partial” shows my denial of my actual addiction, but that is as far as I’m going. I feel I should even be commended for going that far. I am a proud member of the Mafia with an ever growing Mafia of 93 so far. We are fighting constantly to remain in control in the United States, Cuba, and Moscow. I routinely fight with other mob bosses to the death.

Wait a minute! Did I stray from my original topic here of Facebook’s involvement in this lawsuit? I’m telling you Mafia Wars will do that. However, I did find  this blog quote today regarding the class action suit:

Last week we wrote about an impending class action suitwhich named a number of companies on the social web including Facebook, Zynga, and a number of offer networks. At the time we reached out to the law firm responsible for the class action to find out more details. They told us that they were currently seeking individuals who had been deceived in order to name them in the suit. One week later it appears as though they’ve found that individual: Rebecca Swift.biznickman, 3 Facebook Stories We Didn’t Cover Yesterday, Nov 2009

Read the complete posting for the rest of their story.

I can’t imagine that either of these internet giants are too happy about this lawsuit and subsequent negative publicity…but then again I would think $5,000,000 is just a drop in the bucket for them. It certainly is to me in my Mafia world.