At Google I/O 2009, Google has demonstrated an amazing new tool for anyone that wants to collaborate with people on the web. This tool is poised to replace many offline and online tools that currently exist. In order to truly understand the power of Google Wave, you need to watch this video and see the current uses of their technology. When you begin to understand exactly how Google Wave can be utilized you will also need to consider that this is only the beginning of what it is capable of. When developers get their hands on this technology and start developing extensions to this framework as well as the applications that can be created that will integrate this technology, the possibilities will only begin to be understood.
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There was an article on Marketing Pilgrim today that discussed the results of a survey conducted to determine the effect of sales on Social Media Marketing. The survey results are heavily leaning towards an underwhelming conversion rate from this form of marketing. Nevertheless, this isn’t a perfect case study on Social Marketing and you need to read between the lines when taking these results into consideration.
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Is the search engine marketing industry ready for the real-time web? Sadly, not many search engine marketers are ready to embark on the challenge that faces them. They certainly should have taken notice of the changes Google made to promote the real-time web at Searchology. Google unveiled functionality that makes it easier to show the most recent results of your respective search. Although this feature won’t be utilized by most, strategies need to be addressed to take full advantage of this real estate. Twitter has also announced a new algorithm based search that will follow the links posted by users on the popular micro-blogging platform.

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I recently ran into Backtype when doing some social marketing research. Their service allows you to keep track of the conversations that you find interesting or relevant to your business. You can follow individuals and their comments on Blogs, keywords that can identify discussions that you would like to get involved with and branded keywords such as your name and your company name for obvious reasons. Another useful feature it provides is the ability to claim your comments and provide a profile where someone can view all of your conversations and potentially follow you.

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The season finale of Chuck is on NBC tonight and apparently this may be it’s last episode or will it? In a recent episode of Chuck, there was a funny and paid product placement for Subway. The placement referenced the successful “$5 footlong” campaign. Fans of the show enjoyed the product placement so much that Subway sales increased greatly after the broadcast of the episode and now they are including Subway as part of a campaign to save the show from being cancelled on NBC. The star of Chuck, Zachary Levi, has also joined the campaign and brought fans to Subway from a convention.
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Social Marketing isn’t a form of Rocket Science. Anyone can do it and do it well, with little training. The most important aspect of Social Marketing is the amount of time that needs to be dedicated. Social Marketing takes time and consistency to provide desirable results. These are 5 simple ways to effectively market yourself or your business on the Social Web.
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Search Engine Optimization was once a misunderstood and powerful tool to increase the traffic of your website. If you knew what you were doing, SEO could have been your sole method of marketing on the web. Now, SEO is more understood but more costly to actually impact your traffic. Google has even made some recent updates that favor big brands that makes it even more difficult for the smaller players to invest in SEO. Now Social Marketing is the cost effective method of driving traffic to your website but it can be intimidating to know where to begin.
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1) Buying websites

It may be faster to buy an old site with a strong link profile, and link it to your own site, than to try to start building authority links from scratch.

Recommendation: If you find relevant websites to purchase, try to maintain their host and don’t make too many changes to the design and content of the website.

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1) Local and business links

There are always some good links that can be acquired from local and business resources.

a) You can join the Better Business Bureau and get a link from your local Chamber of Commerce.

b) Submit your link to relevant city and state governmental resources.

c) Ask your manufacturers, retailers or other business partners to link to your website.

d) An affiliate program can also be designed to provide link juice as well as drive direct sales to your website.

Recommendation: All links help and you might as well get as many as you can.
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1) Directory Submissions

Submitting your website to directories is something every website should do but shouldn’t be taken too far. Yahoo and DMOZ are the best directories and are good links to have. Beyond those directories there isn’t big list of quality directories but they are helpful links nonetheless.

Recommendation: Submit your website into the most effective directories from trusted sources. They are easy links to acquire and can add value to your link profile. You can also create your own topical directory on a different domain and hosted on a different server then your website. This will give you a good directory link and it may have the potential to attract link juice that your website wouldn’t normally be able to receive.
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