It’s That Time Again – Christmas in July

As appeared in the Presence Pointers column of the July 2008 issue of “Business Watch” magazine.

Thoughts are turning to that exciting time of the year again – no, I don’t mean evenings outdoors, barbecuing, or networking on the golf course – I mean Christmas. Seems like just yesterday the last bit of snow finally melted away – come to think, it practically was yesterday.

It’s the other Christmas in July. While the online world gives the impression of instantaneous-ness, the reality isn’t always so. Sure, you can often make changes or updates to your Web site faster and with less effort than anything comparable in the offline world, but most from a marketing point of view, the online world isn’t that much different than the offline one.

Online retailers understand this fact, but the principles apply to anyone with a Web presence. Even if your key time of year isn’t the holiday shopping season, forethought and preplanning out from key dates should be a part of your Web marketing calendar. Let’s take a look at some of the key drivers to plan into your calendar. Continue reading “It’s That Time Again – Christmas in July”

Search To Be Found – Using Search Marketing to Reach Your Audience

As appeared in the Presence Pointers column of the May 2008 issue of “Business Watch” magazine.

Now that you have your website up and running, are you looking to get more out of it? Your site should not only serve as a destination, but as a channel to connect you with your target audience. This month, we’re going to focus on one of the most important ways to make that happen.

It’s called search marketing. As a business, you may well be quite aware of marketing and even advertising; and I can’t imagine too many people now who aren’t at least somewhat familiar with the concept of searching online. However the combination of these two things may still be a bit foreign to many people. Continue reading “Search To Be Found – Using Search Marketing to Reach Your Audience”