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Into The Clouds

I guess it must be my ADD kicking in… A client asked my new company IMS to quote developing a couple of commerce web sites… including hosting costs. Well since I just launched the new company I have been busy… getting the banking in place, obtaining business licenses, finding and leasing office space, staffing the company. Hosting?  I had not really thought about it in terms of giving a quote since developing price grids for Pinnacle Online when I was the CEO – and that was going on four years ago!

One of the terms that was brand new back then but too new to act upon was Cloud Computing.  Cloud what? Wikipedia describes it this way:

Cloud computing is a style of computing in which dynamically scalable and often virtualized resources are provided as a service over the Internet. …The concept incorporates infrastructure as a service (IaaS), platform as a service (PaaS) and software as a service (SaaS) as well as Web 2.0 and other recent technology trends that have the common theme of reliance on the Internet for satisfying the computing needs of the users.

So to simplify, using a combination of technologies Cloud Computing allows users access to instantly scalable  applications. Examples could include Salesforce.com or  Google Apps. Users access the online application through a web browser.

This same technology allows business owners a way to simplify managing multiple websites, or stream media, or even online secure data storage. About the best example I know of  for automated offsite computer backup online is itsoffsite (http://www.itsoffsite.com/). I interviewed company President Martin Joseph not too long ago on the web strategies podcast.

Oh yeah… the ADD thing… I better get back to posting some prices huh?

Oh yeah again… the new company website is at http://www.strategicimsweb.com/

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Google is not the problem

Now when people ask me what I do I give them the short answer; Internet Marketing Strategy. What is the Internet Marketing thing all about? Well it’s not limited to Google, although that is a great place to start. There are Search Engine Fundamentals that should be applied to your website before any comprehensive Internet marketing Strategy can be formed.  Google or “Search Engine friendly” web sites are simply one of many tactics available to you.
Other tactics include:

• Social Media marketing
  • Social networks like Twitter and Facebook are not just personal tools to communicate with friends. Used correctly they can be a great resource for lead acquisition and brand loyalty.
• Mobile and Local Search
  • One of the biggest missed opportunities in internet marketing is failing to have complete and correct information about your business available to mobile phone users and  in Local listings on search engines and online yellow pages.
• Viral Marketing
  • This can cover a lot of individual examples, but essentially Viral Marketing happens anytime you create something that causes the recipient or viewer to pass the message to someone else. Probably the best example is a “send to a friend” link in an email or webpage.
• Reputation Management
  • Finding negative comments about your business online and responding positively is critical for large and small businesses alike.
• email Marketing
  • It’s not just about sending a blanket email blast. Creating content specific to each email campaign and quantifying the results will show you how much return on investment you are making… Or not making as the case might be.
• Search Advertising
  • Pay-Per-Click advertising has a whole process to learn or outsource. How much should you pay – how do you measure return, how do you find the right search terms, how do you write the ad… the list goes on and on.
• Analytics
  • Constantly refining the content of your site to both be as relevant as possible and to increase organic ranking in the search engines.
• Server Based
  • And then there are server based tweaks like a 301 redirect. If someone looks for a page on your website they should see the same thing with and without the “www” in the URL. Similarly if there are back links to your web site without the WWW the search engines may see that as a back link to a different website.

Whole books are written on each of these topics… well except the last item about redirects. So in the venue of this blog it is just the briefest hint at what can be done to help your customers find and do business with you.

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Internet Marketing Strategy Company

If you have been following my posts you probably already know something’s up.   I have launched a Digital Marketing – slash – Internet Marketing Company.   Here is the very original name.. . IMS Strategic Internet Marketing Services Pretty clever I think.

If we know each other personally expect a call from me in the next few weeks to tell you more about this. More to come…