Internet Marketing Consulting: Inbound Marketing, New Marketing and the New Media
In Your Eyes: Becoming a Student of the Business Part I

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of interviewing a fine young man for a position I have created at The Ultimate Internet Image, a new inbound marketing consultancy focusing on the new marketing, at times as new media marketing, in Lakewood, Ohio just west of Cleveland.

This young man is a recent graduate of one of the finest small colleges in the Midwest and it was a real pleasure to spend time with him. If this young man is reflective of the caliber of the young men and women in that generation our world will be in good hands.

During our 2 1/2 hours together, we talked about everything from life and success to fear of failure and service.

We also talked about fear of success and getting out of your comfort zone in order to succeed!

I believe fear of success is at root of failure for many. Many people, in all walks of life, simply do not want to stretch, alter their lives (even for the better), and break free of inertia.

As the interview unfolded, and we began to speak more about the business, the nuts and bolts of an inbound marketing consulting business, and of excellence, responsibility, and service, we spoke of helping others get what they want; and, in doing so, guaranteeing our own success, personal and in business.

Then, he asked several very good questions:

“How do you consult for so many different kinds of businesses?”

Answer: By becoming a student the business and the businesses of our client’s competitors, focusing not only on the local economy but how the overall economy shapes and affects traffic, sales, and the bottom line.

In other words, we look at all aspects of the business, their competition, and their target market or audience.

Once accomplished, we develop the ultimate internet image…along with an offline identity. This means combining brand awareness with direct response marketing and relationship building.

Ultimately, we develop an effective, overall marketing strategy, one that incorporates inbound, new media marketing with targeted, quantifiable outbound advertising strategies with one goal:

Increase traffic, leads, prospects, patients, clients, members, sales, and overall profitability.

“What is it you do and how do you do it?”

Answer: See number one and below. Additionally, watch for Part II in this series.

“Don’t you have to know an awful lot about the business you are working with if you are going to effectively serve them?”

Answer: Yes! Not only will we see the business through the eyes of the owner, managers, and employees, we will also see the business, the competition, and the product, service, and/or practice through the eyes of the market, the target audience itself. By the time we are ready to begin developing a marketing strategy, we will know the business as well as anyone in the business (competitors) or interacting with the business (target market).

In other words, we will become students of the business, entrepreneurs by proxy, with one goal:

The Ultimate Internet Image will seek to develop the most effective new marketing strategy possible, online (inbound marketing) and offline (outbound advertising), in order to increase traffic, leads, prospects, patients, clients, members, sales, and overall profitability.

Of course there’s more!

But the questions he asked ceratinly got the ball rolling…it was a good start!

Not only were these smart questions, he was interviewing me at the same time I was interviewing him; and, they were questions I had hoped he would ask.

Smart!

I smiled and thought of a Peter Gabriel concert I had been to years before. The song “In Your Eyes” just popped into my head…that’s how my mind works at times.

Go figure!

In this case, the title would be more like:

“Through their Eyes!”

But what the heck!

After acknowledging the questions and providing a short answer to each, I told him how happy I was he had asked them; and then, I started to explain in greater depth.

“When we take on a client, regardless of the business, we bring to the table over 30 years of experience in sales, marketing, and advertising,” more if you count the experience of everyone on our team.

I continued, “Much of my experience is based on creating and running brick and mortar businesses, from the ground up, often starting from scratch (i.e., on a shoestring budget…if that!).

“Significantly, most businesses share many of the same challenges, many of the same issues; and, this is the case whether we are dealing with a professional practice or a tree service, a tanning salon or a bed and breakfast, a pet store or a pizzeria.

“In each and every instance, one thing is certain…no clients, no business!

“It really comes down to that,” I explained. “No traffic, no leads, no prospective clients, no one through the door, and the doors will close. It is inevitable and it is a universal!”

“Without an effective marketing strategy, without targeted, direct response marketing, without the proper balance of effective outbound advertising and inbound marketing, and without sales, the company will go extinct. So many companies, big and small, are closing their doors every day across the country; and, in fact, around the world, due to lack of traffic.”

He nodded.

I went on to explain how frustrated I had been as a new business owner back in the mid to late 70s and early 80s, just starting out, building my first businesses. The challenges were myriad, much as they are today.

In the late 70s the economy was about to tank and the region of the country I was attempting to build a business in, the Midwest, was being transformed forever…right before my eyes…and not necessarily for the good!

The biggest challenge was in not only needing to know everything about my business…but being required to an advertising expert, as well. I had to deal with marketing my business in the most effective way possible. I could sell, that was a given, “igloos to Eskimos” and all of that. How best to market my business, how to advertise effectively, that was the real challenge!

How?

I stayed awake nights thinking about that word!

Consequently, not being able to track my results effectively because the only thing I knew how to do was mimic other, larger, more “successful” companies, I struggled daily with marketing and advertising. As my business grew, and as I began to network with other business owners, I found I was not alone, that we were all struggling and failing miserably to get the most bang for our buck.

Then, in the late 70s the economy took a nose dive, many local businesses took a nose dive right along with it…permanently! We started hearing about service economies, outsourcing, and The Rust Belt. The steel industry collapsed, the automobile industry gasped, and I built my business.

What else could I do? Failure was not an option!

My business did not collapse, we actually flourished. Significantly, our success was more about what we were offering and how happy our clients were with what we were providing. We had discovered Gary Halbert’s starving market and then fed them a diet of excellence.

The results were amazing!

Ultimately, we survived the recession. Interestingly, some would argue it was as bad as our current one, a matter of perspective and time, I suppose? We made it because our clients referred others to us…and the referrals referred clients to us!

Girard’s law of 250 in action!

We were providing excellence and our clients, the average one having a 250 person sphere of influence, told others.

And so on, and so on, and so on!

Kind of like the hair commercial. Talk about an effective ad campaign!

Unfortunately, or fortunately as it would later turn out, not being a “big dumb company” (read: Dan Kennedy and Frank Kern), I didn’t have an unlimited ad budget. I had limited funds and needed to know that the money I spent was being spent properly; and, that the return was not only trackable but the return on investment (ROI) justified the expenditure.

In other words, I had to become a student of not only advertising but of sales and marketing.

He raised his eyebrows and said, “Sales?”

I smiled again.

“Yes, sales!

“You see, whether you are a physician or a dentist, an accountant or a lawyer, a restaurant owner of a yoga instructor, you are ultimately a salesperson.”

We talked about this for a while. I asked him why so many new professional people and business owners joined the Chamber of Commerce, the Lions, the Jaycees, and other social and business networking organizations. I asked him how a new dentist grew a practice from zero to hundreds, particularly when he or she was new to the community and creating a brand new practice.

Then I asked him how many ads he had seen on television for attorneys lately!

He nodded and smiled.

Funny thing?

I can remember when an attorney would have rather been drawn and quartered than be seen advertising his services. Risking his reputation and perhaps more!

Now?

It is the norm!

“Does that mean they are doing it right?” I asked.

He frowned and then shook his head, “No!”

I smiled again!

“Bingo!”

In fact, most of the time, businesses are still advertising like it is 1964 and the Internet was never invented. Or, they are attempting to throw up a static website and then call it day, mission accomplished.

We know what happened the last time someone proclaimed mission accomplished when there was still work to do…right?

A Static Website?

A business owner might draw some nice pictures on the wall of a cave, perhaps in France or Germany, it might be more effective. Perhaps the media would think it novel and travel to see it. You might even be able to get an art major from the local college to do the drawing for you…outsourcing the development and design! Do a YouTube video!

With tens of thousands to tens, and even hundreds, of millions of web pages fighting for the first ten spots on Google’s page one for a given keyword phrase, does anyone really believe a free, static website will ever be found?

Having someone without a marketing background, and particularly someone without inbound, new marketing (new media marketing) knowledge develop your Internet image?

You might as well save the money, or send it to your favorite charity, it will do the world, and you, a lot more good. At least you can feel good about it and write off the charitable donation. Pay someone to “develop” a static website?

Ugh!

Well, I don’t want to beat this to death!

He nodded again. He was nodding and smiling. You could see all the lights going on, and staying on!

Shouting into the wind!

You see, years ago, before Al Gore invented the Internet and dinosaurs roamed our city streets, people would get the biggest yellow pages advertisement they could afford and then pay through the nose month after month because that was “the place to be.”

Then, you could buy newspaper advertisements, the bigger the better. The ads were either full page, before doing so took the cost of a second mortgage and your first born male child, or at least above the fold and to the right.

Radio has always been an enigma, almost impossible to track and expensive.

Television advertising, and especially a 30 minute block for an infomercial, particularly before Ted Turner changed the world with cable, was out of reach of the “average” small business owner. Television advertising was and remains effective for some, a waste for others, and exceedingly difficult to track for all.

So, back in ‘64, ‘74, even ’84, when you had a big promotion, spending a year’s wages for a weekend of outbound advertising, you did what you could.

You hoped a lot, said a few prayers, and even chanted manic mantras for hours in front of a mirror!

Oh, and don’t forget the rabbits foot!

The old jocks among us would wear the same socks all weekend…or wear their lucky tie! And don’t forget the same underwear!

Yes, jocks are a superstitious breed…as are most entrepreneurs!

Shouting into the wind!

The end result was what I call the “throw enough spaghetti against the wall and some of it will stick” model.

Or, shouting (or perhaps doing other things?) into the wind!

Ultimately, it was not unlike taking hundreds of dollars, putting on a blindfold, spinning around until dizzy, and then throwing a dart at a board full of advertising choices!

You might actually hit something useful every once in a while…maybe! Often? You missed…you hit nothing.

Or you hit the cat and your wife and kids wouldn’t talk to you for a week!

Outbound Advertising!

Outbound advertising or outbound marketing is a form of advertising. Outbound marketing is often viewed negatively, it is often intrusive, and, for most businesses, largely ineffective.

Commercials come on and you change the channel on the radio or you get up and use the restroom before the show comes back on.

As for your yellow pages?

Where is yours?

Most people can’t tell you where it is in their house, if they’ve even brought it in off the porch, because they don’t use it any more…they “Google” what they want!

Yes, the yellow pages can still be a useful tool, particularly as so many flee the phone book for greener pastures, less competition for attention. But you must know how to direct your message, your marketing, accordingly.

Yellow Pages
Newspaper Ads
Radio
Junk Mail
Billboards
Specialty Advertising
Etc.

It is all the same for many, shouting into the wind, unless of course you have the proper direct response, inbound marketing strategy; and, the right consultant to augment and direct it.

Even then, to become an expert, or even just very good at it, takes experience and deep pockets; and, particularly in this economy, most small businesspeople simply do not have a lot of either.

The end result?

You shout into the wind until hoarse, none of the spaghetti sticks or certainly not enough to justify the expenditure, your arms get tired from chucking spaghetti at the wall all day, every day, and then you run out of money.

Eventually, you ask for help or close your doors. Often ego, pride, or something else gets in the way, the owner waits too long, and by the time they ask for help it is too late.

All that’s left are the formalities.

“Is it that bad?” He asked.

“It is that bad!” I answered.

The real tragedy is that none of it has to happen. There is help available and it is cost effective…but they have to ask! Or, they at least need to be receptive enough to listen when someone approaches them and offers assistance.

“Heck! We offer a free consultation and competitive analysis. Do you realize how much can be learned in an hour or two? Think about how much we have covered here today!”

“Ah!” Back to sales!” He said and smiled.

I told you, this young man was sharp.

“Yes, and the biggest issue is that people are sales resistant, they just don’t want to be ‘sold’ anything!”

“So, how do you reach them?” he asked.

“Consistency and an unconventional approach! And, we don’t SELL anything…ever!

“We offer a service. We offer to serve once we know we can be of assistance, not before! We don’t even talk price until we know everything there is to know about the prospective client’s business, their competition, and their audience. If we can help and if we feel the client is a good match, meaning someone we can work with long term, then we talk.

“Never before!

“Interestingly, while people do not want to be sold anything, they usually don’t mind a suggestion, an offer of assistance, just as long as they don’t feel obligated.

Reciprocity

Reciprocity is a powerful force and many people just don’t want to be indebted to us or anyone else! Even when we offer something free, people will often refuse. It is an interesting reaction but it is another cultural universal, reciprocity.

“In fact, the most difficult sale to make is the initial consultation…and it’s free!

“For some people anyway.”

“For others?” He asked.

“Well, for some, as stated, you simply cannot give ‘stuff’ away, they are too far gone or defensive to be open and receptive to our message, or any message, and that’s fine.

“Ultimately, we can only help those who want help and they will only ask for our help once they know, like, and trust us.“

Know, Like, and Trust!

“In other words, we never sell anything…ever?” He restated rather than asking.

“Correct! We offer our services and through service we succeed too. Our company is an inbound marketing consultancy and it is solely about excellence. The sales will take care of themselves, ours and our clients’. Success and service are inextricably linked!”

As Zig Ziglar put it years ago, and others have said it in different ways since, and I am paraphrasing:

To get what we want we help others get what they want…first, last, always!

So, he said, “Success comes from helping others get what they want.”

“Yup, that’s it!” I agreed.

“Success means doing the best we can with what we have. Success is the doing, not the getting; in the trying, not the triumph. Success is a personal standard, reaching for the highest that is in us, becoming all that we can be.” Zig Ziglar

Success is constant and never ending improvement, CANI! Tony Robbins.

Success is based on action, selfless action in all things.

“If we seek only to serve, we will be more successful than you can imagine, now as we begin down this path together.

“Additionally, the journey we take is a journey of discovery, a challenging experience that will touch people in ways you can’t conceive of right now…but it’s coming…and it’s amazing!

“Ultimately, we serve others and their success is our success. If we do not help our clients succeed, we will fail right along with them, period!” I said.

In summing up this blog post, part one of two, the last point in the interview was this:

This is the foundation upon which this business is built…we take on a scared trust when we take on an inbound marketing consulting client.

I take on a scared trust when I take on an employee.

In both instances, in the case of the client and in that of the employee, they have said to me, to our company, The Ultimate Internet Image, I am putting my life in your hands. I am not only putting my financial life in your hands, I am placing the fate of my business in your hands. I am also placing the lives of my family, my spouse and my children, in your hands.

I think I know you.

I like you.

I am going to trust you with my life and I will trust you with the well being of those I cherish most, my family.

I take this charge very seriously!

It is humbling and the responsibility can be a lot to handle…but everyone that works for The Ultimate Internet Image will understand, must understand, what we are doing and the incredible responsibility we have, the sacred trust we hold.

After all, we are responsible for another individual’s life! In every respect, we owe them our best, we owe them excellence, and we owe them our undying gratitude for being allowed to serve!

It is through service we grow, it is through challenging others to do the same we become trusted…we become trusted friends. Once again, it is a sacred trust!

Marketing is now about a lot more than just the yodeling
[or shouting into the wind].
It’s about the entire package.
What you say as much as how you say it.
New marketing is our future. (pg. viii)
~ Meatball Sundae by Seth Godin

Character is the ultimate reflection of who you are,
more-so than reputation!
Character is who you actually are!
Reputation is only what other people say about you!
~ John Wooden

For more information about inbound marketing [new marketing – new media marketing] and The Ultimate Internet Image, call any time. I will always answer my phone or call you back as soon as I am able.

Note: We do not pick up the phone while with a client, ever! That is their time, as it will be for you…should you call or email us for more information.

John

Professor John P. J. Zajaros, Sr.
The Ultimate Internet Image
CEO & Director of Marketing
440-821-7018
216-712-6526
Skype: johnzajaros1
johnz@ultimateinternetimage.com
excellencepaidforward@gmail.com (personal email address)

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The Questions Every Business Must Ask Before, During, and After Each and Every Inbound Marketing Campaign

Many companies pay huge sums of money, either to search engines such as Google, Yahoo, and MSN (Bing) for pay-per-click sponsored advertising or to SEO firms, to get to page one, the first page for various coveted keyword phrases responsible for generating leads, traffic, prospects, and ultimately, sales.

While both inbound marketing strategies may be effective, they are certainly not the most effective methods overall, both in terms of costs and/or results, for dealing with the marketing conundrum, the puzzle presented by Google and the other search engines.

The puzzle?

How does a business, either an online, Internet-based company or a traditional brick and mortar business, get the most exposure in the least amount of time and for the least amount of money?

In other words, how can a company optimize not only exposure, the ultimate Internet image and presence, but how can I do it in a cost effective manner?

How does a company optimize the ROI, return on investment?

These are the questions every company, online or offline, participating in online marketing or, as it is now referred to, inbound, new media marketing, needs to be able to understand and address. Unless a company can properly address these questions, these issues that cut to the heart of both short term and long term Internet marketing strategies and efforts, they are going about it in the wrong way.

As noted previously, there is a revolution underway, a transition within a transition. The Internet has forever altered how we spend money on sales and marketing campaigns. The shift is two-fold at its most fundamental level, and there are transitions within transitions, the state of Internet marketing, and thus the state of inbound marketing, is fluid, in a constant state of flux, evolving as knowledge of how to fully optimize the platform and its strategies are understood at a greater and deeper level.

The initial transition has occurred within and away from outbound advertising, the traditional in-your-face, intrusive advertising (e.g., Yellow Pages, television, radio, billboards, etc.), to a consumer oriented, search driven marketing strategy, later to be referred to as inbound or new media marketing. Within this transition several more have taken place. However, the most significant and interesting shift has been in the social media milieu because it is reshaping the Internet at a fundamental level. As the latter continues to occur, how we target and reach various segments of the Web 2.0, social media population is defining inbound marketing.

The use of social media and video marketing, along with the emergence of the blog, social bookmarking, and the mini or micro-blogging phenomenon have reshaped the strategies of companies big and small, both traditional brick and mortar companies moving online and emerging Internet marketing concerns across a variety of niches.

Ultimately, the transition is far from over, yet one thing is a certainty, the old media style of advertising, the outbound method of marketing is fading and the new media, inbound marketing approach to client and customer acquisition is here for the foreseeable future. The ROI may be incredible, given the proper strategy and an understanding of inbound marketing.

The next article in this series: The Use of Video and Social Media to Achieve High Levels of Search Engine Visability! will deal with how to integrate these two powerful models into your inbound marketing to create the Ultimate Internet Image long term!

Professor John P. J. Zajaros, Sr.
The Ultimate Internet Image – International
216-539-7412
Skype: johnzajaros1
johnz@ultimateinternetimage.com

PS, Call for a free consultation and video marketing strategy workup.

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How to Build a Hub or a Linchpin for Your Inbound, Internet Marketing Campaign – Blogging and Social Media Marketing – The Ultimate Internet Image!

There is a transition occurring today in the marketplace from an outbound, old media marketing strategy to an inbound, new media approach presents an interesting, challenging, and even profitable environment for business owners willing to incorporate and even embrace current transition. The shift from old to new, outbound, even intrusive marketing to an inbound, customer/client driven methodology appears to be profound and lasting. The current economic trend is challenging, and that’s putting it mildly. Yet even the most experienced entrepreneurs and Internet marketing specialists are grappling with the right strategy, the right combination of tools, necessary to survive this downturn. In order to survive, businesses must adapt, rethink, and redesign their current approach to advertising and marketing. As a result of our current economic challenges, businesses are finding it increasingly important, imperative, to develop and strengthen relationships, not only with prospective customers, but with their established customer base as well. Engaging in a relationship building strategy with customers they have already done business with at some point in the past is one of the most effective methods for improving a business’s overall profitability, while decreasing advertising costs. It is the established customer/client base, combined with a successful relationship building campaign that includes a number of tools and marketing platforms, that will ultimately lead to not only survival in the current economy but prosperity…in spite of it!

The Emergence of the Weblog!

The emergence of the weblog (web log) or blog, blogging in today’s parlance, revolutionized the way individuals communicate on the Internet. Significantly, what was once considered to be solely a social communication vehicle, almost a means to “gossip” on the web, quickly became the darling of the Internet for individuals and businesses alike. Today, everyone from the neighborhood grandmother talking about her most recent trip back east to see the grandchildren, to The Ford Motor Company and Skittles are blogging and the reasons are myriad. Blogging allows a connection between participants unlike anything I have witnessed in marketing to date.

Marketing History: A Flashback to Bobby and Billy!

In my 54 years I have weathered several recessions, a number of presidents, including a resignation and an assassination, and a couple of attempted ones, the Bobby Riggs and Billy Jean King marketing masterpiece, the “New Coke” marketing debacle, the ultimate political spin of the Clinton Presidency, and the annual marketing bonanza also known as the Super Bowl. However, I have never witnessed anything like the emergence of the “blogosphere.”

The Blogosphere? What the Heck is the Blogosphere?

The blogosphere? Well, if we use Technorati’s definition “The blogosphere is the collective community of all blogs.” How many? As of Technorati’s August 2008 report on the state of the blogosphere there were 133 million blogs indexed by Technorati since 2002, with 1.5 million per week being added per week since then. Surely Technorati’s numbers have changed vastly in the last year but the fact is no one really knows how many blogs exist. There is however one undeniable fact, the blog is here to stay, at least for the foreseeable future.

The Demographics of Blogging

The face of the average blogger is a difficult one to perceive. The numbers grow and the demographics shift but the average blogger is male, over 25 years old, 50% of all bloggers are over 35 years of age, married, college educated, with an average yearly income of over $50,000, and 48% live in North America. Four out of every five people blogging, known as bloggers, identify themselves as personal bloggers. Interestingly, there is a great amount of overlap between bloggers, professional, corporate, and personal, with many designating themselves as two out of the three or all three. Almost half of all bloggers noted that they have had or continue to have multiple blogs, 60% of all bloggers having two or more years of blogging experience, with the average tenure being three years. Female bloggers make up 34% of active bloggers, males make up 73% of all bloggers in Asia, and the youngest blogging population seems to be in Europe, with half of all respondents being between the age of 18 and 34 years of age.

The Emergence of Social Media

With the emergence of social media, and the realization of the power social media marketing offers, including the mini-blog phenomena Twitter and facebook, the blog has maintained its pivotal role as the “hub spot” from which an increasing numbers of companies, from the mom and pop corner store to Fortune 100 corporations, are building inbound, Internet marketing campaigns. The blog offers the ideal platform for relationship building. Connecting with prospective clients, as well the current customer/client base in a way no other medium offers, the combination of the blog and various Web 2.0 platforms is both organic and dynamic. Blogging is a crucial component in any “new media,” inbound marketing strategy. Added to the blogging hub, the social media or Web 2.0 campaign offers an innovative and forward thinking approach to prospective customer and established customer relationship building never before offered in this way by a marketing strategy.

What the Heck Happened to the Website?

So, what happened to the website? Well, first of all a blog is a website! Yes, it is a website, and it’s not, at least not in the traditional sense of the word. Internet marketing has experienced a transition, a revolution of sorts, from the traditional website to the fresh and organic approach of the blog. The blog should be an integral part of any online marketing strategy. Blogging not only provides useful content for a business’s target audience, it also builds relationships and strengthens the connection between current customers and businesses engaged in this useful marketing strategy. The business blog has virtually, and literally, replaced the conventional website as many company’s primary customer/client communication vehicle, and rightly so. The combination of other media, along with the blog, as in the case of social media marketing mentioned above, offers an inbound marketing strategy, cost-effective and profitable, short and long-term.

Weather the Storm and Prospering in the Current Economy!

The question every business owner today must ask: “How do I develop a marketing strategy that will allow me weather the current economic storm?” The fact is many of the traditional marketing strategies, also referred to as outbound or old media advertising strategies have been replaced by inbound, new media marketing methods, with impressive and lasting results. The cost of new media marketing is substantially less than most traditional, outbound methods engaged in by traditional brick and mortar businesses today (e.g., television, radio, newspaper, etc.). Given the current economic climate, this certainly seems counter-intuitive. During a time when businesses large and small are struggling to stay afloat, it would seem prudent to engage in any strategy that promises to increase traffic while decreasing the cost of doing business. Additionally, the reduction in the cost of doing business associated with an inbound, new media marketing strategy is generally accompanied by an increase in revenue and an improved and strengthened customer/business connection. The benefits of the new media, inbound strategy are derived solely due to the blog as the central component, the linchpin or hub, driving the entire program and making the entire business more profitable and even prosperous, regardless of the current economy…or perhaps because of it.

Why UII?

The transition from traditional, outbound, old media marketing to an innovative, inbound, new media strategy is the focus of The Ultimate Internet Image, a new venture created to serve traditional brick and mortar businesses and Internet marketers alike. The Ultimate Internet Image focuses on an inbound marketing strategy while realizing that there is still power and usefulness in some outbound marketing media platforms. The UII marketing strategy creates a synergy, a synthesis of the old media with the new media in order to create a marketing plan designed specifically for the individual client, not a cookie-cutter, one size fits all approach so commonly seen online.

Where Do I Find UII?

The Ultimate Internet Image has offices in Maine, Florida, New York, Minnesota, Ohio, and Illinois, with more opening every week. We welcome you to explore the ultimate opportunity, as a client or as a director and owner. Contact information is available at The Ultimate Internet Image’s blog, listed below.

We invite you to discover what it means to offer The Ultimate Internet Image!

Professor John P. J. Zajaros, Sr.
216-712-6526
Skype: johnzajaros1
johnz@ultimateinternetimage.com

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There is a transition underway, a shift from traditional, offline or “outbound” advertising techniques to a synergy employing the best offline strategies and sophisticated online, Internet marketing platforms to engage the customer and prospective customer as never before. The marketing transition underway will yield increased customer traffic, lasting customer relationships, greater customer loyalty, and greater prosperity in spite of the current economic downturn.

There is a revolution is underway, a shift from traditional offline advertising, also referred to as “outbound advertising,” to online or “Internet” advertising. The transition has gained momentum as its popularity increases, becoming the medium of choice for business owners large and small, from the tiny “mom and pop” corner store to Fortune 100 companies. The reasons for this transition from traditional forms of advertising to new and innovative online strategies are complex and, at first glance, don’t appear to make much sense. However, once a company examines the logic, and even the psychology, behind this shift in focus and tests it, in almost every instance they are convinced of the power and profitability of the Internet, as not only a sales tool but as a client/customer relationship tool, as well. Unlike any strategy available prior to the Internet, the web provides easy and, in many cases, automatic access to customers and prospective customers alike, often at the push of a button.

Outbound Advertising: Prospective Customer and Customer Antipathy

Unlike many online methods of advertising and customer contact, traditional “outbound advertising” seeks out prospective clients by what can only be referred to as an invasive strategy, a strategy often resented by prospect and established customer alike. The company or advertising agency attempts to reach prospective clients through TV advertisements, radio ads, newspaper ads, direct mail, billboards, and so on. Significantly, many of the traditional types of advertising campaigns carry with them a negative connotation or stereotype, they are viewed with disdain and even contempt by the very people the ads are attempting to impress. Prospective clients and even established customers will use the time during television commercials to go to the rest room, get refreshments or do anything else but taken in the message advertisers have spent hundreds, even thousands and tens of thousands of dollars, for them to see. During radio commercials, listeners often change the station searching for music, getting annoyed when they can’t find a station playing music instead of ads. When a homeowner receives the mail delivery, they immediately throw away junk mail, referring to the trash receptacle as “file 13!” Readers of the morning paper will make a conscious effort to read or look “around” newspaper ads, focusing solely on the stories, the “Irish Sports Page,” the obituaries, and of course the funnies or comics.

The Emerging Trend and the Beginning of a Revolution

Enter the website! For years those savvy enough to realize early on that an Internet presence would pay dividends, unlike anything available through traditional, offline, “outbound” advertising, benefited from the greatest new tool available, the website! The website allowed for instant access to a business’s products and services unavailable through traditional advertising methods and vehicles without incredible expense and a cumbersome, if not unreadable, advertisement. The website revolutionized product and service presentation, making it one of the most popular and affordable advertising platforms a business can employ to generate interest in their business and increase traffic to the traditional brick and mortar companies using them as part of an overall advertising strategy. Interestingly, the website evolved into a vehicle in direct competition with traditional businesses as online business took off.

The Emergence of the Search Engine and “Googling”

The emergence of online business, and Internet marketing in general, changed forever the focus and the method of both advertising and the way business is conducted. With the emergence of the website, advertising changed from an “outbound” phenomenon to an “inbound,” client driven methodology. Prospective clients and customers began to look for, and actively search out, businesses and thus, with the emergence of the search engines, at first as simple as the first AOL and Webcrawlers and ultimately to The New King of the Hill, Google, marketing was revolutionized and changed forever. Google and “Googling” changed the way businesses are searched out and presented forever. Now, instead of an invasive form of advertising, “outbound advertising,” the client actively engages in the process of seeking out and finding businesses fitting their specific search criteria, their “keywords.” Google, Yahoo, MSN, Ask, and many others began to use keywords and complex algorithms, mathematical formulas, to establish rankings for companies with websites on the net, and the race was on.

The Death of The King: Long Live The King!

With the emergence of Google and Googling, “The King of the Outbound Advertising Hill,” the “Yellow Pages,” will never again see the glory days of the past. In fact, many a “Yellow Pages” advertising directory may be found, if it can be found at all, on the back porch collecting mold and mildew, in the garage under a pile of debris or in some closet or cabinet taking up space and never to be heard from again, at least until someone from the local school comes around as part of a recycling campaign and takes it off your hands. Thousands of dollars, collecting mold, dust, and not much else, while businesses in the know, those who have already made the transition to the Internet, have reduced or eliminated their expenses in return for a more innovative, relevant advertising strategy, one optimizing the best of the traditional, offline and online tactics to increase traffic, improve the company’s bottom line, and all the time reducing costs.

SEO: What the Heck is SEO?

SEO, search engine optimization, a complex and all-encompassing strategy used to influence and improve a company’s web presence through a number of strategies, soon became the darling of the “new Internet.” SEO also became the most sought after, least understood, and most expensive of all web services. To achieve optimal search engine rankings, companies paid thousands of dollars in an attempt to understand, manipulate, and ultimately conquer their respective “niche,” competitive environment, and target market and audience. Traditional SEO continues to play a role in many business’ overall Internet marketing strategies. However, the time and cost of a fully optimized search engine optimization campaign, complete with website and/or blog enhancements, has made it somewhat less attractive, particularly in light of current economic trends.

A Transition within a Transition

Interestingly, there is a shift underway in Internet marketing, as well. We will touch on this transition within a transition here and in subsequent articles. For many years now, online advertising has been all about the website. In fact, when an Internet consultant interviews a prospective client for the first time, a “website” is the first thing most business owners, advertising vice presidents, company presidents, and even CEOs ask for. However, the once requisite website has been usurped, no longer the King of the Internet Mountain, by the blog. Blogs and blogging represent the fastest segment of the Internet, with Twitter’s mini-blog format and facebook’s family friendly, community atmosphere and approach running alongside; and, both taking the net by storm. The blog is a marketing sensation for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the fact that it allows for an intimate and ongoing exchange between the advertiser and the client and prospective client alike. The relationship building feature of the blog, organic in nature, results in a connection building process unlike anything available in any other single form of expression today.

The One-Two Punch: Blogging and Social Media

The relationship building capabilities of the blog, coupled with an intelligent overall strategy fully engaging the emerging power of social media, also referred to as Web 2.0, and a thoughtfully designed and properly incentivized email campaign, make it far and away the most promising new advertising vehicle available to businesses today, big and small. Interestingly, even companies like Skittles and Diet Coke are entering the social media milieu in a big way. Diet Coke now has a significant following on Twitter, yet nothing compared to the followings of President Barack Obama, CNN, Time Magazine, and The New York Times. Significantly, The New York Times, CNN, and Time Magazine have a multitude of blogs, all focused on various topics of interest to their readers, their target audience. The visual and print media companies have demonstrated the power, and indeed the necessity, of communicating directly with various segments of their audience through blogging, targeting them based on interest, and developing a loyal following as a result.

The Skittles Revolution

Skittles leads the revolution! Skittles has a small but active following on Twitter but it is their move to YouTube that is really opening eyes. Linked to their Twitter account, Skittles has moved to establish a profound and significant social media presence. The staggering fan base on facebook is actually the most interesting aspect of this story. With nearly 3,000,000 fans on facebook alone, there can be little doubt of social media’s power to create and maintain customer loyalty. Skittles has gone so far as to integrate a “squeeze” or “capture” page leading to their various Internet marketing platforms. While there are other companies fully engaged in an Internet marketing combination strategy, such as that engaged in by Skittles, the candy merchandiser has demonstrated an online marketing sophistication leaving many of the company’s competitors in the online dust. The use of mini-blogging, both on facebook and Twitter, along with video marketing, and the use of a “capture page” to collect data they are interested in, indicates and overall Internet marketing strategy capable of moving Skittles ahead of its competition. Interestingly, Ford Motor has engaged a social media manager, Scott Monty, who maintains, among other Web 2.0 platforms, a growing Twitter following just shy of 6500 and a loyal fan base on facebook, as well.

Old or New? Struggle or Prosperity?

There can be little doubt as to the magnitude of the transition underway in advertising and marketing today. Significantly, there is a transition within a transition taking place; and, blogging and social media are emerging as a powerful one-two punch designed to build customer loyalty and shape buying behaviour as never before. The powerful relationship building tools available to companies engaged in online marketing offer a promise never before possible through traditional marketing strategies and “outbound” advertising media. Those businesses unable or unwilling to keep pace and go with the current trend will be left outside looking in as marketing strategies continue to evolve and improve. The “blogosphere,” particularly as it relates to a business’s target market or audience, social media or Web 2.0, the use of sophisticated relationship building strategies, such as email autoresponder campaigns, and various search engine optimization techniques (SEO), will provide businesses engaged in the Internet marketing revolution an opportunity to grow and prosper, in spite of the current economic down turn. For the rest? It will be a long, hot summer!

Look for our next article: The Ultimate Website and the Blog: Blogosphere, Web 2.0, and the Autoresponder – The Ultimate Internet Marketing Revolution Continues!

Let Our Family Serve Your Family!

Professor John P. J. Zajaros, Sr.
CEO and Founder
Skype: johnzajaros1
johnz@ultimateinternetimage.com

See also and more to follow:
Our Illinois Internet Image Director and Partner: All Garretson

Our Florida Internet Image Directors and Partners: Brandie Rose Bushwitz and Harry Bushwitz

Our Maine Internet Image Director and Partner: Lisa Sawyer

Our Minnesota Internet Image Director and Partner: Stephen Jankowski

Our New York Internet Image Director and Partner: Ross Diamond

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