Search Influence’s president, Will Scott, will be speaking at Search Marketing Expo (SMX) West on March 3, 2010.
The topic of discussion will be Facebook Ad Tactics For Search Marketers.
For the full agenda and exhibitor list, please visit Search Marketing Expo West.
This blog post comes at an opportune time to write about stress in the workplace.
Some, who work in an office building or somewhere similar, may think that working from home makes work less stressful. I am here to tell you that is a myth and far from the truth. Just because some of us, at Search Influence, work from the comfort of our own homes, does not mean that stress does not catch up with us from time to time. I would like to discuss some stress relieving strategies, both that I do myself, and some that I have not yet tried.
– Change of venue: For some who work in an office, this may not be possible. For those of us who work from home, this could be a way to change the flow of your day. Sometimes it helps to have a change of scenery to get back on track. Move from your office or desk to the kitchen table, or even outside, if it is a pretty day and if you have wireless internet.
– Smoke: I am not a smoker, and I really don’t promote this. But, let’s be real- If you are a smoker, you probably turn to a puff or two to relieve some stress from work.
– Take a walk and get some fresh air.
– Enjoy a relaxing beverage: For some it may be coffee. For me, it is a nice glass of chai tea, green tea or even some regular coca cola.
– Have a snack: Since I am a mother of twin toddler girls, my snacks usually consist of goldfish crackers and some Dora the Explorer strawberry yogurt. Taking a quick break to enjoy some of your favorite snacks can help to relieve some stress.
– Listen to some soothing music: Whether you like classical, country, pop, or R&B, listening to some mellow music can calm your nerves. Heck – you can even relieve some more stress by singing along!
– Just breathe.
– Get some natural light: If it is a pretty day outside and I am not feeling so relaxed or I feel like I need some motivation, I like to open the window drapes or open the front door (leaving the screen door shut, of course.) It always seems to make me feel a little bit better and more motivated.
– Vent to a coworker: Your coworkers, at some point, have been extremely overwhelmed and stressed out also. Chat with someone you feel comfortable talking to and who you feel you can trust. They might be feeling the same way now or they might have at one point, so they can help to set you straight and maybe even give you some great advice.
– Make or clean-up your to-do list: I am a list-person. I make lists for everything! This can help to clarify exactly what needs to be done and in what order. If you slowly but surely start to knock things off your list, you will feel better about yourself, alleviating some stress.
I am curious to know if any of you (who work from home, or not) use any of these tactics to alleviate work stress. What do you do that is not mentioned here? Leave a comment and let me know!
Image credits:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/frield/95509221/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/alancleaver/4331097922/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/soham_pablo/427916044/
Occasionally, we have a new plastic surgery client who does not use before and after pictures on their website. Traditionally, plastic surgery internet marketing experts have held on to the belief that a before and after gallery is a must for driving traffic to the site and ultimately turning visitors into real patients.
Most surgeons use a gallery as patient education, and the more knowledge a patient has of a doctor, the more likely they are to schedule a consultation. For Newport Beach Plastic Surgery, Newport Beach rhinoplasty patients can see for themselves the artistic skill and experience of the surgeon. They can see the results and what they will get out of the surgery before they even talk to the doctor. This is a powerful tool.
An additional bonus is patients come into the office with some understanding of the surgery and the results they should expect, and the consultation is much more interactive.
Plastic surgery internet marketers can always use the gallery as additional source material to promote online. Having a gallery doesn’t make our jobs a slam-dunk, but not having one does make our jobs more challenging to drive leads to consultations. More pages equal more opportunities to show up in the search engine results pages.
Galleries have become an important part of the pre-consultation education process. Often the gallery pages are the most visited pages on a plastic surgeon’s website by potential patients. Without before/afters, a visitor is less likely to stick around. So what to do if you’re a plastic surgeon without those images?
First, if a doctor is starting a new practice, he or she may not have a wealth of before and after pictures to use. The after pictures are best taken at stages after surgery, so a great picture of a patient may not be great until the patient is fully healed. That might not be for 6 months to a year. That mean it takes at least a year for a plastic surgeon to build a potentially decent gallery for the website.
Then there are some plastic surgeons who want to attempt to rank in the search engines without the before and after pictures. They prefer to share the before and after pictures within the confines of the office to hold a captive audience and to control the dissemination of those images. Many surgeons and patients oppose the use of pre and post-operative images given their potentially graphic content. From a search engine ranking perspective, if they can rank without those pages of images, then that’s what they may want to do.
We have a handful of plastic surgeons who do well without a gallery on their website. Even without the before and after images we are still able to cover the traditional SEO bases: content optimization, Google listings, link building, etc.
In fact, we have one outstanding example who is achieving stellar rankings in his market – Donaldson Plastic Surgery – plastic surgery, Columbus, OH 4661 Sawmill Road, Suite 100, Columbus, OH 43220.
This doctor is
(1) a recently trained plastic surgeon,
(2) building a young solo practice, and
(3) prioritizes patient privacy and discretion: he has NO before and
after images on his site.
How does he
The answer is that he is a full participant in all of his integrated marketing efforts. He is fully engaged and works with us on a regular basis to build his presence online.
Collaboration is the key to truly maximizing a fully connected and integrated marketing effort.
It doesn’t sound like magic, but it is – it’s just talking.
And because Dr. Donaldson is the public face of the practice, and he talks to the patients, he is the front line of feedback. And that feedback is incredibly valuable information that we as search marketers would never be privy to without talking to the doctor on a regular basis.
One thing he has recently shared with us is that NOT having before and after pictures has helped his practice. He has seen patients in consultation who appreciate that he does not have a gallery on his website.
We can see clearly the usage and interest in before and after plastic surgery pictures on other sites and we wonder, would adding a gallery bring in more consults?
I don’t know, but right now, no-gallery is workin’ for him so the jury’s out.
What do you think? Would you make that first appointment without seeing some proof? OR are you one of those for whom it’s worth it not have your pictures out there?
No one who can rise before dawn 360 days a year fails to make his family rich.
Quoted from Malcolm Gladwells “Outliers: The Story of Success
Related:
When the sun comes up, you better start running
Google Buzz with its “Connected Sites”option is deeper, and perhaps more insidious, than we thought. It appears, that in addition to insinuating itself into Gmail, Gchat and Google’s mobile services, through Google My Social Circle Google Buzz is picking up information from sites listed in your Google Profile and including “Social Content” in the actual search results, blended as they might News or Video content.
I was reading a blog post from Small Business SEM’s Matt McGee this morning in which he referenced a search result for “small business reputation management“. So I clicked the link and got the following results set:
In case it’s not obvious, you can see in the image above two referenced blog posts from sites I frequent run by industry friends Matt McGee and Outspoken Media (Lisa Barone).
My first thought was “Wow, that’s kind of cool. I wonder why Mat Siltala’s not there” ;).
And then I drilled down to see what was driving this particular social graph. It’s interesting to see where Google draws data regardless and in this case, more so because assumptions are being made about my likes and dislikes in this Google, My Social Circle by inference from other sites I frequent.
As you can see My Social Circle includes:
So basically, Google has digested all of the data from those accounts I have listed on my personal Google Profile page and used them to assemble this My Social Circle idea. And, with my social circle defined, my search results are further personalized.
This is a good thing right? Google’s trying to help out and give me what I’m looking for, right?
Maybe.
At this point the implementation is pretty mild. It’s a nice leverage of the data available thanks to the Google Personal Profile page – personal profile pages which are all the more prominent thanks to buzz. And, my position that the implementation is mild is based on my usage.
I’m a business user and I keep it clean. I may be occasionally smart-alecky but other than that I don’t have anthing online I don’t want my mother to see.
If this isn’t you if you might have something to hide, and particularly if you browse on a public or work computer, you may want to reconsider whether Buzz is for you. While the idea of my industry friends who blog showing up in search results is OK for me, it might not be OK for you. And, even if you’re squeaky clean, Google sometimes gets it wrong.
Have you seen any examples of this? What searches? I’d love to see screen shots.
Hi, my name is Anthony and I am a recovering search marketing luddite.
For years there have been only three internet ad services I viewed successful: Google Adwords, Yahoo Sponsored Search, and MSN Adcenter. Don’t misunderstand; I was aware of other services. I am a social media packrat after all, but I never considered them realistic alternatives to the holy SEM trinity. They seemed like gimmicks. As PPC manager at Search Influence, I provide these services to our clients but I never realized how truly profitable social media advertising was until I started comparing the conversion rates. The numbers spoke loud and clear – Facebook (to my surprise) was generating a high return with a significantly lower cost because of demographic targeting and editorial-like advertisements.
Demographic targeting has always been the corner of successful search marketing. Though Google Adwords has demographic targeting capabilities, it lacks Facebook’s knowledge of its users. Facebook allows internet marketers to directly advertise to their core audience based not only geo-location, age, and sex, but a plethora of user define information.
Facebook Advertising allows you to target by:
Instead of trying to convince a “researcher” to click through (as you compete with nine other ads and organic results), you can use demographic targeting to directly advertise to your potential client. Showing highly relevant ads to a smaller and more focused group of viewers leads to higher quality leads and lower cost per click (cpc).
While demographic targeting is key to finding your audience, the proper verbage is also needed. Unlike search engine advertising, these users are not looking for tax specialists or new-age spa retreats. This type of user is uploading pictures from their kid’s birthday and accepting event invites.
So how do you engage these users?
Write magazine-like editorial ads for your targeted demographic.
The reason magazine and newspaper ads are so successful is they provide a great value proposition to a targeted user. Incorporating graphical elements gives Facebook ads a stark advantage over search engine advertising. This element not only allows user to visually convey the ad purpose, it is also a good way to generate a higher quality click-through rate (CTR). A relevant image will always be worth a thousand plus words.
In the end, while search engine paid advertising is beneficial in capturing high-level researchers, Facebook allows you direct access to a potential client. With a well-written advert, you can lead the horse to water instead of yelling at him to drink.
Local search experts share secrets, tips and tools to dominate local on March 23, 2010 at SES New York.
Local search marketing is a different animal than typical search engine optimization. (Is there such a thing as “typical search engine optimization”?) The semi-annual Local Search Summit will be held March 23, 2010 at the Hilton New York, and provides an opportunity to listen in as the top thought leaders in the industry discuss the most up-to-date local search techniques and tricks.
Super SEO secrets being shared …
Local search ranking factors can rock the search results.
Ideas on how to use Google’s algorithms to your advantage. Put these ideas to work for your clients’ websites to achieve better ranking in local search results.
Use it or lose it: leverage social media to expand your local market.
How does a business take full advantage of social media for new leads? Twitter, Facebook for business and more – listen in and learn how these social tools can be as in integral part of your marketing effort. Search Influence’s own Will Scott will be leading the panel as moderator, joined by some of the brightest minds in social media.
Get the straight scoop from the search engines themselves.
We will have discussion time with representatives from each of the top search engines. Get all of your local questions answered straight from the experts!
iPhones, Androids and other mobile devices.
With a small but growing percentage of visits to websites, mobile devices are getting the attention of marketers. What do marketers and small business owners need to start thinking about to maximize this opportunity?
As anyone with Gmail or their ear to ground has realized Google Buzz has been released.
I was both excited and hesitant to try it out. I was excited because Chrome in all its sleek simplicity has been my chosen browser for a few months, and Gmail and Google Talk have also been a daily mainstay for some time now. I was hesitant because Orkut never clicked with me and most importantly I really don’t want yet another social media hub.
The main features as noted in the Buzz launch video are:
1. Auto following
2. Rich, fast sharing experience
3. Public and private settings
4. Inbox integration
5. “Just the good stuff” – recommendations , 3 word status collapsed at the bottom
The auto follow feature I can give or take. I see a small value in this but to me it’s nothing to write home about. We were all able to kick start all our other social media sites with little trouble. The next two features: Rich, fast sharing experience and the public and private settings don’t’ seem much different from Facebook. There maybe be small differences but again nothing ground breaking.
Inbox integration is a little tricky to gage in value. It is interesting that you get interactive buzz message directly in your inbox. But Google Buzz is one button away from my inbox, it shows up and crowds my inbox just like any other alert but it does offer some ease of use.
Buzz includes “just the good stuff?” According to whom? I guess if I were going to let someone choose what I want to see and not want to see it would be Google. They seem to have done a decent job thus far. I primarily use their search engine. Did I just welcome Big Brother? Anyway, I am questionable about the way they achieve giving you “the good stuff.” If your friends buzz on something then it shows up for you even if you don’t follow the person who originally buzzed, I can deal with that but in one part of the release video they mentioned reducing noise in social media which makes this sound counter-intuitive. The other way they dictate “the good stuff” is by collapsing “boring” comments to the bottom.
Boring to me seems pretty vague. In the launch video he used a “3 word update” as an example. I don’t like this because I love cryptic 3 word updates. I really do. Cryptic song lyrics are more interesting to me typically than knowing that you just washed your dog and it looks adorable wrapped in a blanket. This feature leaves me on the fence.
My initial impression after playing a little was: a little Twitter and a little Facebook with a boring layout– but it’s accessible, since I already live in Gmail. I might try it for a while and see where it goes.
Then… I saw the mobile version and the sky lit up with rainbows. Unicorns jumped from cloud to cloud and I saw Google Buzz in a whole new way. Well, almost… the mobile app for iPhone and Android does look really impressive. The integration of Buzz, Place Pages and Google Maps looks amazingly useful. So, next time I’m bored on a Saturday night I can check to see who’s buzzed nearby and might be talking up a happening spot within my vicinity. I can then check the Place Page to see a review on their location and what others have to say about it. If it suits my mood off to the party I’m going. Then I can even buzz where I’m going and see if any friends want to join me.
Yes, it does sound a bit Twitter-ish but with some added convenience. I haven’t tested this yet but at writing it’s Mardi Gras weekend. I plan on keeping an eye on the local buzzes and see what I can get myself into. If you’re in New Orleans this weekend buzz about it and lets see how this thing works!
The app on android even has voice recognition so you can speak your buzz and post. I wonder if you can hold it in the air and post cryptic lyrics straight from the stage? As I mentioned before, you can seek out user updates based on location, find businesses close by, and view their Place Page and see Buzz updates regarding that business on the Place Page.
We’ve all seen most of these things to some extent in a lot of other apps but after thinking about all the different apps that do various things you have to stop and account for the fact that this is one app that does all of it and its integrated with my already existing email.
The first Buzz I saw upon signing up was “Hi, I‘m Google. I’m ripping off twitter and spamming all gmail users about it with a splash screen in front of their inbox. Have a nice day.” Earl’s comment made me laugh. I think I might have been ready to react the same way but I’ve decided to check it out for a while.
One of the forward facing aspects of Google Buzz is their development of “a suite of open protocols to create a complete read/write developer API.” So, it looks to me like it will be up to the developers of the world to make it really take off but so far so good.
As anyone who knows me, or one of our team, or even who has read this blog a few times knows, we do a fair amount of work in online Plastic Surgery Marketing.
As with any business we have some customers who just go along – who are happy to get our monthly reports, see their return on investment analysis and make the occasional comment or request. While we try, we can’t get all of our plastic surgeon clients on the phone monthly or even quarterly and ultimately, when it’s their business and their paycheck they are the ones who have a vested interest in their marketing effectiveness.
Then there are the practices, in plastic surgery, marketing like crazy and very involved both in the process and the outcomes. The doctors who spend their weekends and evenings documenting procedures, researching the industry and engaging with prospective patients online using their web sites as a tool for plastic surgery marketing and eduction.
One such doctor is Paul Parker. Dr. Parker has spent countless hours writing and working with artists and designers to assure the information he presents is spot-on what his patients want.
Parker Center for Plastic Surgery, New Jersey – Breast Augmentation
122 East Ridgewood Avenue
Paramus, NJ 07652 – (201) 967-1212
Recently Dr. Parker, working with our favorite plastic surgery website designer Aimee Ellingsen of Cake Websites & More, spent a lot of time revamping his breast lift pages.
Now, I’ll tell you. After 3 + years of working with plastic surgeons I know way too much about plastic surgery.
This stuff is amazing! Dr. Parker, through words and illustrations makes the considerations and the procedure of breast lift imminently approachable.
There’s a lot to plastic surgery marketing, but the foundation is a doctor who cares enough to educate patients on complicated topics.
Many plastic surgery procedures are easy enough to conceptually understand. But after 3 + years working with these guys I really never understood all the considerations of Breast Lift. A Breast Lift is a much more complicated decision process. How much breast material is there, how much sag, where are the nipples relative to the breast as a whole? I mean it’s crazy.
So the point is, Dr. Parker and Aimee Ellingsen‘s team created this GREAT content. Perfectly explanatory works which help one understand not only what kind of intervention is needed depending on the condition of the breast, but what the options are and what the surgical process looks like.
And now, I get it! I, as a lay person, now fully understand the problem, the solution and, if I were a prospective patient, would be able to begin the process of understanding my need for plastic surgery.
As is often the case, content really is King. Dr. Parker intending to be informative and educate patients wound up creating great content, which is the foundation of great plastic surgery marketing.
–
Related Posts: