Online marketing CEO sells for loss

Online brand marketing company CEO Christian Lassonde and his wife, Jennifer, sold a four-bedroom, 3.5-bath home in Tiburon to Jeffrey W. Messina and Cynthia Messina for $4.4 million on Sept. 3.

The Lassondes bought the home for $4.8 million in March 2008.

The 4,335-square-foot brick home was built in 1997 and combines Colonial and Georgian styles.

It comes with hardwood flooring, a recently renovated kitchen with Italian granite countertops and a master bedroom with a fireplace. The home also features views of Mount Tamalpais and the bay.

Christian Lassonde is the president and CEO of Millions of Us, a Sausalito company that markets brands through virtual worlds, multiplayer online games and social media.

He's previously worked as a program manager at Linden Lab, as well as a network programmer at LucasArts.

Jennifer Lassonde is the director of human resources at Millions of Us.

Small, Midsized Businesses to Increase Online Marketing Budgets in 2011

Marketing budgets are set to rise, according to a current survey of more than 750 small to midsized business (SMB) respondents. Key factors prompting marketing budget growth in 2011 are increased expectation of the position and impact of social media and the realized return on investment in e-mail marketing efforts.

The survey, fielded by Zoomerang, a leading online survey and polling tool, and GrowBiz Media, a SMB content provider and consultant, offers an understanding of how companies with fewer than 1,000 employees preparation to allocate 2011 budgets.

Heading into 2011, most SMBs plan to raise their marketing spend in both online and print mediums, with online activities receiving the largest increases. Among the marketing initiatives expected to increase the most are e-mail, website and social media marketing.

"It is remarkable to see the fresh ways that small and midsized businesses are adapting different technologies to make the most effective and creative use of their budgets," said Alex Terry, General Manager of Zoomerang. "More small to midsized companies are incorporating social media practices into their business improvement strategies. As a result, this area of marketing is poised to see an incredible uptick in the next year."

Among the more than 750 businesses surveyed, 34 percent indicated that they presently use social media in their marketing efforts. Of those using social media, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter were the most common channels chosen, used by 80 percent, 37 percent and 27 percent, respectively.

"Once again small and midsized business owners have shown their willingness to embrace new thoughts and marketing methods," said Rieva Lesonsky, CEO of GrowBiz Media. "It's also encouraging that these business owners are planning to increase their 2011 marketing budgets, which will hopefully lead to an overall economic boost in the country."

For more detail on the survey and its results, visit www.zoomerang.com/smb-marketing-practices-survey-2010 to view the report in its entirety.

About Zoomerang

Zoomerang was introduced by MarketTools in 1999 as the world's initial Web-based survey tool. Zoomerang surveys and polls are fast, easy-to-use and powerful. Millions of individuals and thousands of businesses, non-profits and educational institutions trust Zoomerang to help them make more informed decisions with least cost and effort. Zoomerang provides customizable survey templates for the most common questions including customer satisfaction, meeting feedback, product feedback, event planning, online voting and hundreds more. Zoomerang customers can take advantage of Zoomerang Sample, a panel of more than 2.5 million consumers ready to take surveys, and professional services including expert survey design and survey programming. For more information, visit www.zoomerang.com.

About GrowBiz Media

Content and consulting company GrowBiz Media helps marketers, media companies, government agencies and other organizations effectively reach the small and midsized business audience. Rieva Lesonsky, founder and CEO of GrowBiz Media, was formerly the editorial director of Entrepreneur magazine and has been part of the world of entrepreneurs for nearly 30 years. GrowBiz Media's blog, www.SmallBizDaily.com, provides resources, inspiration and information to help entrepreneurs begin and grow their companies. For more information, visit www.growbizmedia.com.

Website marketing and sales opportunities 'to soar'

Sales lead generation opportunities will continue to grow quickly across online platforms in the coming years, new research suggests.

Find out more about websites

A report by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) notes that the UK's internet economy is now worth £100 billion, or 7.2 per cent of the UK's GDP last year.

It also showed that for every £1 of e-commerce goods and service imported, the country exports £2.80.

BCG commented: "The report finds that this share is likely to grow by about ten per cent annually, reaching ten per cent of GDP by 2015."

In addition, the group found that internet firms now employ around 250,000 of the people currently working in the UK.

The news comes after recent figures from comScore showed that the UK is second only to the Netherlands in terms of European nations that make most use of the internet.

It was found that in the UK, the average website visits per visitor score was 71.3 for September 2010.

Online Marketing for Beginners

While everyone is tightening their belts due to the crisis in the economy, many have turned to online marketing. With millions and millions of people using the internet, any type of online business would certainly have its fair share of potential customers.

Doing business in the world wide web may charge you less as compared to putting up a real or physical business, gives you the convenience of working at home and could well cut your normal working hours each day.

Here are some things to consider when opening an online business:

Brainstorming

This is the initial step and could very well be the key factor in your success. Look for a good digital product to promote, easy to sell and has lots of potential clients such as ebooks and computer softwares.

Marketing Strategy

Develop a marketing plan and strategy to be used for your campaign. Determine the demographics such as age, gender and location of persons that are most likely to purchase your product. This will help you target your customers and in doing so, could save you a lot of time and money.

Promotion and Implementation

There are a lot of free tools and platforms that can be used to promote digital products or your website itself. Try using social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Myspace to advertise your products. This way, you are able to use a free service and reach out to a wide range of potential customers. You may also consider making use of optimization service providers to help you market your products. Though it may cost you some cash, it could save you time and effort.

With problems in the economy, everyone is trying to look for a good business to earn money. The key to success is utilizing all the resources available and make good use of it. The internet has been a great tool not only for communication but also for business as well.

Google traffic figures good for online marketing services

Businesses using Google's range of internet marketing services should be interested to learn the search giant has increased its traffic share to 6.4 per cent of all internet utilize.

The record figures, complied by online security firm Arbor Networks, include records for the company's search engine, as well as statistics for its other areas such as YouTube.

Craig Labovitz, who conducted the research for Arbor, said even with overall internet usage rising by 40 to 45 per cent a year, Google's share was still impressive.

"While its not news that Google is big, what is amazing is how much bigger [it] continues to get," he said.

The numbers may be further fine news for the search engine's advertisers and investors, coming shortly after the organisation announced increased profits for the third quarter of the year.

Eric Schmidt, chief executive officer of Google, said the brand had an "excellent quarter" and "continued to show significant momentum".

Alternative search engines could help online marketing services

Businesses looking to maximise their search engine optimisation services should be looking beyond Google at alternative strategies, according to one specialist.

Writing for Search Engine Watch, Bas van den Beld highlighted several key search tools focusing on niche or particular types of content that all marketers should be thinking about.

Mr Van Den Beld emphasised sites such as YouTube, which receives two billion views a day, as a chance of which search marketers will almost certainly be aware, but few have taken full advantage of.

"Many people are surprised to learn that YouTube is the second major search engine," Mr Van Den Beld said, pointing out that the video sharing site deals with more searches than Bing or Yahoo.

With 1.5 million business-oriented queries on the site each week and a hugely diverse user base, YouTube is "the place to be", according to Mr Van Den Beld.

He added with YouTube videos showing up in Google's universal results, it offers an extra opportunity for marketers to get their products to the top of the web's biggest search engine.

Mr Van Den Beld also suggested social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook as brilliant options for marketers looking to broaden their search potential.

WebiMax's Online Marketing Efforts Optimize Sites Big and Small

WebiMax.com (www.webimax.com), an online marketing firm concentrating on search engine optimization, supplies its services to businesses of all sizes big and small. The SEO company is currently ranked as the number-one provider of search engine optimization by TopSEOs.com. WebiMax's dynamic group is able to address online marketing needs of all companies regardless of their age, search engine rank, and size.

CEO, Ken Wisnefski envisioned an online marketing company that could handle the wishes of any client. "In the beginning of my own career, I remember being intimidated by the 'bigger' players within my industry," relates Wisnefski. "I knew my business could help clients just as much as my larger competitors who enjoyed more exposure, I just needed a little push to get me on my way to better rankings on the search engines. We get a lot of online marketing clients who have the same issues, and I am proud that WebiMax has the tools and experience to address them. On the other hand, some bigger companies desire to keep their good rankings and popularity, and we have the resources to help them as well. Our online marketing tactics are customized to fit each client, their size, and present online marketing needs."

VP of Online Marketing, Todd Bailey, relays a story about newly helping a client get their site online and optimized in just a few weeks. "A client came to us with a loose vision for a site," remembers Bailey. "The client had a common idea at first, then members of our team spent several days with them formulating something more tangible. From there, our Web design team came up with great images and designs to match the client's vision; our copywriting team researched and composed optimized copy using germane keywords to their industry and products; and, our pay-per-click team helped begin a Google AdWords campaign to get them some immediate exposure on the search engines. The client was amazed to see how their 'loose idea' came to fruition via a entirely optimized and great looking site in just a few weeks."

My Online Business Strategy - The Secret to Affiliate Marketing Success

Gary Gregory today launched an innovative marketing product that features live online support and an easy to use system for all experience levels. My Online Business Strategy (M.O.B.S.) is designed to provide affiliate marketers with a simple process to quickly create a successful online business.

Unlike some other marketing systems that require extensive knowledge of marketing theory and terminology, Gary Gregory's My Online Business Strategy can be used by beginners with no experience in marketing or search engine optimization. The new system uses a popular web platform with proven results in quickly building up search engine traffic.

My Online Business Strategy uses a process that appeals to search engine algorithms and that can start drawing visitors even before users have completed all the necessary steps. According to Gregory, the M.O.B.S. process will ensure users of a steady flow of traffic, and many sites consistently attract between 500 to 5000 unique visitors every day.

The vast majority of online shoppers still use the major search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing to find products that they are interested in purchasing. Attracting online business requires web sites to place highly on search engine results pages (SERPs) for keywords that pertain to their products and services. However, many internet marketers have found that achieving good search results is difficult in such a competitive marketplace.

Unlike other marketing products, My Online Business Strategy features live support so that clients will be able to get the help they need without long delays. According to Gregory, his system is the only product that internet marketers will need to make money online. M.O.B.S. is geared toward beginners and those who have struggled with internet marketing and in that vein features live support for the entire life of the product.

Vistaprint Enables Micro Businesses to Easily Adopt Search Marketing

Vistaprint N.V. (VPRT 37.75, +0.05, +0.13%) , a important online provider of professional marketing products and services to micro businesses and the home, today announced the launch of its Search Engine Optimizer (SEO) tool as well as custom blogs for its user-friendly internet marketing packages. The two fresh features were designed to be simple and effective for any micro business looking to increase its search engine rankings and highlight Vistaprint's desire to help micro businesses easily and effectively utilize online marketing. The company's internet marketing team has also set up exact accounts on social networking platforms to keep the growing number of Vistaprint customers up to date with the latest changes while educating them on the best practices in the industry.

"Micro businesses and small businesses of all kinds are marketing online because they've realized that's where a lot of potential clients are going to find them," said Whitney Pegden, senior product marketing associate at Vistaprint. "While we have added a number of fresh and exciting features to our websites packages -- including contact forms, maps, shopping carts and matching email addresses for domains -- we're also focused on educating our customers to help them succeed. We're providing tools that guide them through things like search marketing with copywriting, which will maximize their online efforts. Our goal is to make internet marketing as easy as designing a business card."

The new features add to a broader suite of internet marketing products and services offered by Vistaprint, with custom websites, email marketing and online search profiles. The newly launched SEO tool helps customers to quickly and easily optimize their site to be found by search engines and also assists customers in creating relevant content that will help to develop their site ranking. The tool, which is integrated into Vistaprint's website builder, uses an optimization report card which evaluates a user's site and allows them to capitalize on search opportunities immediately. The SEO tool makes it extremely easy for non-technical users to optimize their site and improve their rank without any prior knowledge of search marketing. The tool costs $9.99 per month and can be easily added to any existing Vistaprint website package.

The Future of Online Marketing Is Here

Marketing is highly important to every kind of business. It is important to make sure that your business is getting the recognition that it deserves as well as making sure enough people are able to learn about your company for you to grow. What many have already found is it is possible to grow as long as there is a focus on online marketing. While SEO and PPC programs are still very big throughout the web, there are more people than ever subscribing to social networks like Facebook and Twitter.

The reason why so many companies have been finding their place on the social networking sites is because of the ability to reach out to clients in a very organic way. It is not forced to gain attention from clients when you are simply making general announcements about the company and the things you are doing. Those who are into your company will be sure to follow your company online and they will surely get their friends involved as well. There are a few reasons why this advertising method is such a winner for so many different kinds of companies.

The price is right

One of the greatest things about marketing via Facebook or Twitter is that you do not have to have a huge budget. Both of the services are free to sign up for. The only thing it costs you is your time. Creating posts and tweets does not even take that much time to accomplish. Usually the job for social network marketing will fall to one person in the company and even then, it will be a part time responsibility. There are very few companies which invest a lot into these kinds of marketing strategies, yet there are big payoffs for the work you put into them.

Go to where the clients are

Marketing is very much like real estate in that location is everything. There is a natural link between where you market your company and the response you will get from your marketing methods. The best idea is to simply go to where the people you are trying to reach congregate at. Doing so will make it where you will be seen by those you are trying to reach. Since the majority of young, fresh clients with disposable income are on Facebook and Twitter, it is the location where more companies want to make sure they appear.

Access to all

One of the dilemmas companies have to face online is what kind of device they will make their websites geared towards. Having to choose between a regular computer, an iPhone and an iPad is enough to make any company nervous. The good news about marketing through Facebook and Twitter is they have done all of the hard work for you. Your information can be accessed by all through any device which has the ability to view the different social networking sites. This will make it where your company is viewable to all those you are looking reach no matter where they might be.

Google to offer new online course for ppc marketing users

Google is to launch a new online course covering remarketing.

Posting on the blog for its pay per click marketing service AdWords, Gordon Zhu said the one-hour, interactive session will take place on October 20th.

"Remarketing is a simple way to connect with your website visitors," he added.

It works by allowing advertisers to show tailored offers, such as last minute discounts, to people who have already visited their website via the Google Display Network.

The online course, which will include a question and answer session, will cover the benefits of the practice, as well as a guide to setting up remarketing in an AdWords account.

In a recent article for Search Engine Land, John Perich said remarketing could help firms to boost their acquisition rates by offering them a second opportunity to attract potential customers who did not convert the first time around.

News brought to you by ClickThrough – experts in SEO, Pay Per Click Services, Multilingual Search Marketing and Website Conversion Enhancement services.

Search Engine Marketing Agency Helps Clients Reach No.1 on Google

A growing Search Engine Optimisation Agency up in Lancashire have been quietly pushing their clients into number one positions on Google for search terms such as “press release delivery”, “laptops”, “touch screen” and “memory card”.


According to the rankings produced by topseo.com, who rank online marketing companies from the US, the UK, Australia, Canada and India, Custard Media are the fourth best SCO agency in the UK. They are ranked number one in the country by topseo.com for social media optimisation, content formation and reputation management.


Custard Media Managing Director Ssam Allcock stated, “We have specific expertise in-house which is unmatched in the UK for an agency of our size. This allows us to achieve outstanding results for our client base. We are able to quickly rank websites highly for some very competitive search conditions and we’re delighted that such a trusted authority as topseos.com has recognised our abilities.”

online marketing services boost Google profits

A rise in aggregate paid clicks and higher revenues from ads shown on partner sites helped Google record a 32 per cent annual increase in its third quarter profits.

The search engine recorded net income of $2.17 billion (£1.35 billion) between July and September, up from $1.64 billion during the corresponding period of last year.

Revenue from pay per click services for Google sites and AdSense partners rose by 16 per cent year-on-year and was four per cent higher compared with the second quarter.

Meanwhile, ads on the Google Network brought in $2.2 billion, or 30 per cent of total earnings, an increase of 22 per cent on Q3 2009.

The bulk of revenue came from sites owned by the company, such as YouTube. At $4.67 billion, this was also up 22 per cent on 12 months earlier.

Just over half (52 per cent) of earnings came from outside the US, the same level as the second quarter but down one per cent year-on-year.

"Google had an excellent quarter," said the search engine's chief executive Eric Schmidt.

"Our core business grew very well and our newer businesses – particularly display and mobile – continued to show significant momentum."

During the third quarter, Google's worldwide full-time workforce grew from 21,805 to 23,331.

News brought to you by ClickThrough – a provider of SEO Services & Pay Per Click strategies.

Google set to remain top target for search engine marketing

Google is set to remain the top target for online marketing after it increased the number of queries it handled during September.

Figures from comScore show the company's sites processed 10.59 billion explicit core searches from home, work and university locations last month, up three per cent on August.

Google remained well ahead of Yahoo!, which accounted for 2.68 billion queries, down two per cent from the previous survey.

Microsoft, which is taking on Yahoo!'s pay per click marketing accounts as part of the companies' Search Alliance deal, saw its site handle 1.79 billion explicit core searches in September, a three per cent increase on August.

Overall, comScore said Google accounted for 62.9 per cent of the total core searches conducted on the top five search engines last month.

Yahoo! had a 19.2 per cent share and Microsoft was on 12.5 per cent.

The top five was completed by the Ask Network on 3.4 per cent and AOL on two per cent.

LSF Interactive and KENSHOO Announce Partnership to Enhance Online Media Buying Offerings

LSF Interactive, a technology-focused global online marketing and media buying solutions and services company, today announced its partnership with KENSHOO, a global leader in search marketing and online advertising technology. The partnership brings together the custom optimization for which LSF Interactive is known and KENSHOO’s proprietary search marketing platform, offering unparalleled online media buying efficiency for client campaigns.

“This partnership helps position our organization at the forefront of online media buying, ahead of some of the largest paid search managers in the world,” said Daniel Laury, LSF Interactive’s president and CEO. “We will now be able to more quickly evaluate and react to data for client campaigns, and provide improved reporting and dashboarding capabilities, both in the U.S. and in Europe, giving LSF Interactive a significant edge in mastering large SEM campaigns on behalf of its clients.”

LSF Interactive will combine proprietary tools like Analytics+, and more than 10 years of search engine marketing experience, with KENSHOO’s industry-leading platform, KENSHOO Search™. The pairing will help make paid search campaigns more streamlined and ensure the most comprehensive and strategic approach is applied. It will also advance LSF Interactive’s goal of creating synergies between all online advertising options including paid search and display, and allow for proper attribution management.

The combined methodologies are being beta tested among select clients, and LSF Interactive plans to leverage a new platform for its global clients over the coming months.

“We’re thrilled that LSF Interactive has selected KENSHOO to power its paid search campaigns,” said Yoav Izhar-Prato, CEO of KENSHOO. “The KENSHOO Search™ platform will allow LSF to continue delivering innovative strategies and bottom-line results for its clients.”

Bradenton and Lakewood Ranch Online Marketing Seminar Offered by Manatee County Chamber of Commerce

Manatee County area businesses will have the opportunity to attend a joint educational event on the topic of "Mobile Marketing via Tagging", Tuesday October 12 in the Manatee Chamber's Lakewood Ranch Office at the McClure Center.

Online PR News – 11-October-2010 – Lakewood Ranch, FL - October 08, 2010 -- The Manatee Chamber of Commerce, in partnership with Lakewood Ranch, is offering a FREE SEMINAR on "Tagging" on Tuesday, October 12, 2010 at 9:30 AM at the Chamber's Lakewood Ranch Office at the McClure Center, 4215 Concept Court.

Troy Newport of Webtivity Design Solutions and a representative from Lakewood Ranch / Microsoft will present information on 2D barcode technology (QR Codes and Microsoft Tags) and ways companies can use this technology to promote a person, a business, or their products and services.

Registration is required to attend this event. The registration form can be found at http://www.manateechamber.com/articles/mobiletagging.pdf'

About 2D Barcode Technology:
A 2D barcode can be viewed in similar terms as a Universal Product Code (UPC), except UPCs can only represent numbers. 2D barcodes can be used to represent text, web addresses and other data. Newer smartphones now include the scanning software necessary to take advantage of this technology, while a quick application download will integrate with older smartphones to enable the functionality. Once the software is on a phone, the user simply aims the camera phone at a 2D barcode, and the smartphone scans the code.

About Manatee Chamber of Commerce:
The Manatee Chamber of Commerce, a Florida Chamber of Commerce, is located in Bradenton, Florida and serves Anna Maria Island, Bradenton, Bradenton Beach, Ellenton, Holmes Beach, Lakewood Ranch, Longboat Key, Palmetto, Parrish, and Myakka City. Lakewood Ranch and Longboat Key are bi-County areas, split between Sarasota and Manatee. The Chamber provides education and networking opportunities, job / employment assistance, and small business start-up counseling while working on community issues such as legislation, water, transportation, and general quality of life. The Manatee Chamber has a full-service Better Business Council, Drug-Free Workplace Program, and Economic Development Council.

japanese users "most connected" to mobile online marketing services

Japanese mobile users are "most connected" to media through their devices, according to a new report comparing the country's market to Europe and the US.

The comScore study found that 75.2 per cent of smartphone subscribers in Japan access a browser, downloaded content or used applications during June.

This compared to 43.7 per cent of those in the US and 38.5 per cent in the UK, Germany, France, Spain and Italy.

Some 59.3 per cent of Japanese subscribers went online during the month, compared to 31.1 per cent in America and 25.8 per cent in the European markets.

Mark Donovan, comScore's senior vice-president of mobile, said the report shows use of mobile media is accelerating across the globe, but there are "dramatic differences" in how it is consumed.

Users of internet marketing services looking to establish themselves in multiple markets therefore need to understand "usage dynamics across geographies" in order to achieve successful campaigns, he added.

The study comes after comScore revealed there were 234 million smartphone subscribers in the US during the three months to August.

Yahoo! launches online PR drive for new search experiences

Yahoo! is rolling out a set of new "Search Experiences".

The California-based company said the features are the first in a series of improvements that will bring more news and entertainment together in a single page.

With a new set of shortcuts, users will be able to view film trailers, listen to songs from a forthcoming album, see the latest photos and read tweets about popular topics.

Yahoo! said the move builds on its recent introduction of contextual search tools like the "Infinite Browser", which helps individuals find related content about a particular news story.

It added that the changes will also make the search engine "even more popular" with the target audiences of online marketing services.

The latest announcement comes after Yahoo! chief products officer Blake Irving said it would be overhauling a number of features including search and email in bid to "get its cool back" and challenge the dominance of Google.

According to comScore, Yahoo! handled 2.7 billion searches in August compared to Google's 10.2 billion.

News brought to you by ClickThrough – a provider of SEO Services & Pay Per Click strategies.

The buzz network: Online marketing finds new ways to engage moviegoers

When it comes to using anything digital to advertise movies, the buzzword is “engagement.”

Unlike traditional movie advertising, such as trailers, billboards and bus ads, digital advertising is by nature interactive. Web banners expand with a click. Trailers are found, played and passed along to the next user via a share module. Games, quizzes and other content propagate due to the gleeful posting of high scores on Facebook. Engagement, advertisers hope, creates consumers who will go out and buy tickets to a movie, and tell their friends while they’re at it.

“Digital is 100% of an opportunity to engage with that user on a really emotional level,” Dimitry Ioffe, CEO of The Visionaire Group (www.TVGLA.com), states. “Make them laugh, make them cry, surprise them. The trailer and print is a very isolating individual experience. It’s just advertising talking directly at you and you don’t have a way to talk back or engage in any capacity.”

Besides being emotionally involving, the web allows users to easily e-mail a friend or post a link on Facebook, Twitter, Digg and a host of other sites. “How often do I see a billboard on the bus and run and tell a friend?” Jason Yim, CEO of Trigger LA (www.triggerglobal.com), asks. “For a conversion, the Internet’s a lot more powerful.”

Because most digital advertising requires the user to do some hunting or clicking, the medium has become an especially popular way to feed information to “fanboys” and “fangirls” who are already passionate about a comic book or novel that’s headed to theatres. On the Internet, a studio can post information about an anticipated project as soon as it’s announced in trade magazines, to “start controlling, creating an experience for the target person,” according to Ioffe. They can also reassure audiences about the direction the adaptation is taking.

IAB reports 10% increase in online marketing revenues

Online advertising spend increased by ten per cent during the first six months of 2010, according to a new joint report.

Research conducted by the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) and Big Four firm PricewaterhouseCoopers indicates that online video, social and 'performance' marketing supported a rebound in the market following the UK's exit from recession.

UK marketers invested £1.969 billion on web-based advertising between January and June 2010, as the medium achieved a record market share of 24.3 per cent.

The IAB said the return to double-digit growth mirrored the general recovery of the entire advertising industry, where total UK expenditure rose by 6.3 per cent to £8.1 billion during the first two quarters of the year.

Online display advertising spend increased by 6.4 per cent to £381 million, taking a 19.3 per cent share of online advertising, with banners accounting for £272 million of this.

Video marketing spend continued to soar, rising by 82 per cent to £20.7 billion, while social media advertising accounted for an estimated 13 per cent of internet advertising spend, the report stated.

Social Media Dashboard Can Help Businesses Coordinate Online Marketing

Companies of all sizes and entrepreneurs from all industries are being told that in order to be successful in the 21st century, they need to develop a compelling digital marketing strategy that incorporates social media usage.

Doesn't it get overwhelming though when one has to keep track of a myriad of Facebook pages, Twitter feeds and LinkedIn accounts?

Tech experts point out that the best way to keep track of your businesses' social media presence without the unnecessary confusion, is through a so-called networking "dashboard."

Most dashboards are relatively inexpensive online programs that give users a bird's eye view of all their social media activity.

One of the least expensive programs is called HootSuite and is available for under $6.00. This tool ensures that entrepreneurs are able to keep watch over their social media presence on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, all on the same page, thus saving them from having to log on to each site separately, or having to fish for new user comments. HootSuite also offers a more basic, limited version that is free of charge.

Jungle Torch may also soon become an indispensable online tool for businesses. The app allows users to determine how best to improve their company's search engine optimisation (SEO), by showing them how their websites rank in major search engines.

Twitter and Facebook – the Future of Online Marketing?

Social Media Portal founder Tim Gibbon has claimed that social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook have more potential for online marketing than straight advertising.

Mr Gibbon said that online marketing social media had the advantage of “seamless” integration and so was able to avoid the weakness of direct online advertising – the “unwanted” factor.

He said that since 2005 there has been a huge shift towards social networking, a shift that was finally being recognised by companies who are now focusing on Facebook and Twitter for their online marketing efforts.

A number of companies even print their Facebook and Twitter URLs on receipts to make customers aware of their social media presence, Mr Gibbon noted.

New research this week identified another important phenomenon in the UK online marketing sector, which will have quite an impact on the future – mobile devices and applications.

A study by the Association of Online Publishers (AOP) revealed that most publishers are looking to build online marketing campaigns on mobile devices such as the iPad and even more were planning to launch new apps in the 12 months, offering some of their content and services free of charge.

Researchers found that half of those surveyed were already delivering mobile content, and one in six already had iPad apps. Some 72 per cent had mobile websites up and running, while another 25 per cent were planning to launch them over the next year.

An overwhelming 91 per cent of respondents identified the mobile online sector as an opportunity or “major opportunity” for marketing in the next 12 months – 86 per cent saw the iPad and other tablets as a good place to concentrate, while 84 per cent picked the smartphone and apps 80 per cent would be focusing on apps.

Search Engine Marketing Tips for B2C Marketers

Best described as the Yellow Pages of the 21^st century, Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is currently recognized as the highest performing marketing medium available for B2C businesses. SEM is an aggressive method to target prospective customers who are actively seeking a particular product or service in real time. Put yourself in the customer’s shoes and ask, “where would I look first?” More than likely, your answer is a search engine.

This is why the importance of paid search is insurmountable for any consumer business. When it comes to online marketing, paid search has the ability to put a company’s advertisement directly in front of the right audience, rather than rely on the search engine to decide how a company should rank on the organic listing.

However, in order for an SEM campaign to be successful, there must be the right knowledge, time and industry expertise in place. Here are a few tips for B2C businesses to keep in mind if they are planning to implement an SEM campaign into their marketing budget:

Tools and Reports - Whether a business has someone in house specifically hired for SEM services or has hired an SEM firm, make sure the right tools and reports are in place to monitor the campaign’s performance. Also, make sure the person in charge of your campaign knows how to interpret and use these tools.

Industry Expert s- Along the same premise as above, it is important to have an SEM expert optimizing the campaign, considering the campaign will be competing against other industry professionals whose sole purpose is search engine marketing. Ensure there is enough experience, knowledge, and focus backing any online marketing effort.

Keyword Selection - When selecting keywords, remember to include words people would use to search for the product, including misspellings. The less competitive the keyword, the lower the cost per click.

How To Conquer Social Media Marketing

Want to learn how to leverage the best social media marketing techniques to boost your online marketing performance. At this week’s Social Ad Summit, we will be discussing the latest techniques being implemented by the leading agencies and brands.

We’ve finalized the agenda and this year are pleased to welcome speakers from Johnson & Johnson, Organic, Huge Inc., Buddy Media, and more. I’ll also be speaking about the best Facebook marketing tactics to boost your performance, something that I’ve been covering in depth on this site for the past three and a half years. If you are looking to stay abreast of some of the latest and greatest strategies, this is an event that you shouldn’t miss.

Cary-based online marketing firm raises $4M, looks to hire 35

Startup netsertive is looking to hire 35 people and plans to move its headquarters to Research Triangle Park after raising $4 million in venture financing.

Netsertive has developed proprietary technology for localizing digital and online advertising.

Greycroft Partners and RRE Ventures led the first round financing.

“We wrote the book on using technology to localize online marketing for small and medium businesses and deliver national online exposure through local online channels,” Netsertive says on its website. “We’re passionate about the industries we serve and continue to add chapters to our book by working closely with dozens of industry leading clients around the country.”

The company is led by Chief Executive Officer Brendan Morrissey, who at one time was an executive with mobile technology firm Motricity.

“Our mission is to help businesses that serve their local area bridge the gap between online discovery and offline sales,” Morrissey said in a statement. “Far too many small and medium businesses lose out to larger competitors simply because potential customers cannot find them online. Our approach enables these smaller companies to affordably compete for online presence with the largest companies in the world. The return on investment that our clients experience speaks for itself. ”

Netsertive plans to move into new office space on Oct. 1.

“We’ve looked at many companies in this space and Netsertive was the most attractive to us,” said Jim Robinson IV, managing partner at RRE Ventures, in the funding announcement.

“Netsertive is far beyond simply being a good business idea,” he added. “They have experienced rapid and responsible growth, implementing hundreds of campaigns for clients nationwide. We expect this momentum to continue, as their unique technology solutions play a key role in helping smaller businesses effectively compete for online visibility in their local markets.”

Those Getting Feet Wet in Online Marketing May Find Visa Business Network Helpful

You may or may not be aware of the Visa Business Network. This is a site the company just launched as a way to connect small business owners with one another, providing resources like goal toolkits, mentors, content-ranked information and more.

We feel some of our readers may find this valuable, so we spoke with Michael Lee of the Visa Business Network Outreach Team. He talked about how it helps businesses get started with building their Facebook and Twitter presences.

Lee says, "There are two Facebook goals on the Visa Business Network; one is a basic step to help little business owners set up a Facebook page. The other goal is to help these business owners take the next step and actively promote their businesses through their newly-created Facebook page."

"There is a Twitter goal, which is called 'Learn to Use Twitter'. The Twitter goal goes through setting up a Twitter account and provides tips on best practices for promoting one's business through Twitter. Besides the Facebook and Twitter goals, the site also features a goal on setting up email newsletters and another one on getting found online via services such as review sites and local directory listings."

Online Marketing Excellence Launches New Website for Online Learning

om Aikins, founder of the Online Marketing Excellence training course, announced today the launch of a website that allows consumers to purchase the course and access the 60 video segments that present the course’s information. The site address is http://www.seonorthamerica.com.

Online Marketing Excellence was developed over a two-year period of research and development and was designed in particular to assist small business owners in creating more traffic for their companies’ websites. Unlike many other online marketing and SEO training courses, Online Marketing Excellence was created for people who have limited or no knowledge of how internet marketing works. It was really designed for beginners and does not assume that the users of the course have prior knowledge of online marketing.

Also, the course material is presented completely in video format with most of the video segments showing users how to do things step-by-step using computer screen capture software. Users are shown exactly where to go, where to click and how to use SEO and online marketing techniques in a simple easy-to-follow manner.

According to Aikins, "This course will allow anyone to easily master the techniques and methods that are needed to successfully drive traffic to a website. The concepts are easy to learn and our site offers users unlimited usage for a whole year for only $379 for the entire course. Individual modules can be purchased for $44. Because usage is unlimited, employers can have as many of their staff learn from the course as they want. And, new videos will be added to the existing 60 each week so that users can keep up with new developments as they happen in this fast-moving industry."

The course is broken up into 10 modules with each module containing 4-8 video segments. Module titles include Introduction To Online Marketing, Keywords, Creating Content, Posting Content Online, The Importance Of Video, Using Blogs, Link Building, Using Facebook , Google Analytics And Places, Google And Facebook Pay-Per-Click.

By covering all of these topics the course presents to users all of the methods and techniques that are needed to be successful at online marketing. The overall emphasis of the course is on showing small business owners how to market their bricks and mortar businesses on the internet. It is not for people looking to make money only from a website business. Another key segment of potential users of the course is people who are looking for training so that they can work in the online marketing industry which is one of the fastest growing in the world.

Online Marketing Excellence is presented in English but there are written transcripts of each segment available also beneath each video that are in Spanish, French and German. Other languages to be added soon include Arabic, Portuguese and Russian. And, other sites will be added in other areas of the world.

Founder Tom Aikins is a sales and marketing expert with over 30 years experience and spent 27 years in the magazine publishing industry. He supervised the launch or re-launch of 11 publications covering both consumer and trade segments. He has concentrated on online activities for the last five years and regularly presents short seminars on online marketing.

New Program Helps Companies Improve Online Marketing Success

Phoenix Arizona based AKA Internet Marketing has launched a new service aimed at helping bridge the gap between senior executives and tactical web staff. Their Virtual Search Engine Marketing Director Program bridges the gap between the vision of the Senior Management and the tactical Internet Marketing team responsible for deploying a winning online marketing strategy. This program is designed for Mid-Sized companies that employ an in house web marketing team yet does not have the budget for an in house expert to provide strategic direction to accomplish the goals in the most efficient manner. According to Anthony Kirlew, Founder of AKA Internet Marketing “Oftentimes a CEO or Senior VP may know what end results they want, but they simply don’t have the expertise to develop and deliver a solid execution plan to their web marketing staff.”

Kirlew is very clear to emphasize that his company is not looking to take Director level jobs from those who currently hold them, but rather help companies that have not been able to benefit from the expertise of a Search Engine Marketing Director (and often due to cost). “A Search Engine Marketing Director is someone who usually possesses both tactical Internet Marketing skills, as well as high level marketing and business skills. They are often the missing component that a company needs to truly thrive online,” states Kirlew.

The delivery of the service starts with an initial (paid) consultation where a Senior Search Marketing Strategist will discuss the current status of the company’s Internet Marketing program. This includes an analysis of the company’s Internet Marketing goals, progress, and concerns and is followed by recommendations which can be implemented with or without the oversight of a Virtual Search Engine Marketing Director from AKA Internet Marketing. If desired, the Director can oversee the implementation and monitor progress on an ongoing basis, otherwise the company (AKA Internet Marketing) will arrange for periodic check-ups to confirm that the client is meeting their goals.

The basis of Search Engine Optimization in online marketing

Search engine optimization is a kind of complicated methods that help to improve the placing of a website in the search results of the major online search engines. This is because most consumers see the details that they need through the major search engines like those provided by Google, Yahoo, Bing, and AOL, the rank of the online website in the search engine results is a very vital thing in deciding how many searchers will see and look the page.

There are lots of methods that can be used when utilizing search engine optimization. One of the first method that web masters avail search engine optimization is to increase the count and location of keywords on the website that users are possibly to use when browsing for services and goods proffered by the website. Most search engines list a page depend on keyword phrases and many times annex value if the keyword arrive within some concentration level. The warning in this case is that many search engines will reduce the web page ranking if the keyword repeats so many times since it is noticed as a try to cheat the search engine. Keyword SEO utilizes not only keyword concentration but also keyword positioning. Most search engines put higher importance on keyword terms that are positioned in HTML header tags and page titles.

Another way of search engine optimization is to improve the count of links to the website being optimized. Many search engine enterprises outline their algorithms with the belief that a webpage that is greatly linked to be more possibly to proffer quality content than a page that has no links to it. Many webmasters use this technique to increase the search engine optimization of their website. Because of this, many search engines now under estimate to and fro links in favor of one way link. This signifies that a major target of latest search engine optimization is the maintenance and creation of one way links.

Sine one of the major targets of the search engine optimization professional is to improve the count of one way links, lots of techniques have been developed to attain this target. One of the excellent techniques to make one way links is to give testimonials on webpage. These methods will generally produce a link to the testimonial provider’s webpage. Another technique to make one way link is to create posting on internet message boards and place the web page URL in the base line.

SEO is an important factor of any internet marketing plan. By placing a web site rank highly in search engine results, it is likely to improve the count of visitors to the website.

Lee Elliott Enterprise Offers New Online Marketing Service

Lee Elliott Enterprise LLC, Houston, has launched a new online marketing service for orthodontic offices. The service, which is tied to Google Maps and Google Places, provides local online marketing for orthodontic offices.

Google launched Place pages for Google Maps last year. These local maps provide targeted information for users on local products and services based on their searches. Smart phone GPS applications also are starting to use Google Maps Place pages.

According to the company, the service helps make new patient leads and will help push orthodontists’ Web pages to page 1 of Google rankings.

One of the cofounders of the service is Sonny Elliott, who has been involved in the orthodontic community since 1984. He co-founded the seminar company Quest for Orthodontics and also cofounded Omega Orthodontics, a publicly traded company, He spent many years providing in-house consulting, appearing on national programs, and authoring practice-management works.

Dublins Best Hostels Choose Tailor Made SEO As Online Marketing Partner

The start-up website, which launched in February 2010 is a partnership between 10 of Dublin's Leading Hostels. The website offers in-depth profiles of each of the hostels in the partnership together with online booking facilities.

London based TailorMadeSEO specialises in online marketing and search engine optimisation for small businesses, its parent company also provides web development and business support services focused on the SME sector.

Dublin's Best Hostels began working with TailorMadeSEO in June 2010 and has already achieved several #1 positions on Google and more than ten page 1 listings in the organic search results. The result – an impressive 700% increase in visitor numbers and an upturn in Dublin hostel bookings made through the website.

Ronan Brady, co-ordinator of the Dublin's Best Hostels project commented “Working with Tailor Made SEO was a natural choice for us, their website development team did a smashing job on our website and their SEO services are competitively priced. After three months we are impressed with the results and have renewed our agreement for an additional 3 months”

The Dublins Best Hostels website was originally developed by Tailor Made SEO's sister company, Tailor Made Sites who specialise in producing Affordable websites for small businesses. In addition to securing web development services from TailorMadeSites and SEO services from TailorMadeSEO, Dublin's Best Hostels have now tasked the firm with managing their Google Adwords campaigns.

Saif Bonar, founder of Tailor Made SEO said “We are pleased to work with Dublin's Best Hostels on website development and SEO, we are delighted with the results we have produced in the first three months and look forward to continuing our relationship and building on the success so far”.

20% of Canadians hit by deceptive online marketing: Visa

One in five Canadians report having been the victim of unauthorized charges on their credit cards as a result of accepting a marketing offer online or over the phone, a Visa survey found.

Canadians have made purchases they didn’t intend to make or signed up for offers unintentionally as the result of not reading the small print, or failing to uncheck pre-checked acceptance boxes, Visa said.

While 20% have fallen victim to such deceptive marketing practices, awareness that they exist is high. About 78% of respondents knew of the potential pitfalls, it said.

"Deceptive marketing practices come in many forms," said Gord Jamieson, head of payment system risk at Visa Canada. "While the majority of retailers are honest and legitimate, consumers need to be conscious that there may be fraudsters out there and they should think twice before accepting an offer that sounds too good to be true."

Visa says consumers should check their card statements carefully for unauthorized charges and if they occur try tackling the merchant directly. If that doesn’t work, contact Visa and the report the case to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.

Lyris Launches Email and Online Marketing Partner Program

online marketing expert, today announced the launch of the Lyris Partner Program. The program affords partners – resellers, online marketing solutions vendors, software companies and agencies – the opportunity to sell, implement and support an ever-expanding solution set that includes Lyris HQ, Lyris' flagship email and online marketing solution.

Together, Lyris and their partners offer marketing solutions for marketers who run complex email and online marketing campaigns. The Lyris partner network is comprised of innovative companies that share Lyris' commitment to deliver accelerated and truly accountable ROI to clients.

Unlike other marketing industry partner programs, Lyris' "high-touch" program takes a truly collaborative approach, providing partners with comprehensive offerings and personal support that enables them to grow their businesses.

Depending on the partnership level, specific benefits of partnering with Lyris could include:

• Marketing support: Marketing resources and support to grow partner business
• Competitive margins: Discounted internal use licenses
• Personal support: Dedicated account success managers
• Professional development: Exclusive access to partner portal and Lyris Learning Lab
• Lyris Community: Attendance at annual Lyris Customer Events and User Group meetings

The Lyris Partner Program also allows partners to intelligently integrate key business processes into Lyris HQ via robust APIs to let marketers act on even more complete profile and activity data. Lyris HQ already provides rich email, web visit and transactional data that can be further customized via technology integrations.

"As integrated marketing partner programs gain momentum as a method for online marketers to effortlessly expand their product and service offerings, it is important to understand what to look for when partnering," said David Daniels, CEO of the Relevancy Group. "Program aspects like a comprehensive product offering, a collaborative, supportive program that offers personal technology and marketing support along with robust technology integrations and competitive margins should all be considered when evaluating a program."

The Lyris Partner Program offers five categories of partners, each with a separate set of benefits specifically focused on individualized needs and business models:

• Reseller partners: Become certified by Lyris to sell Lyris subscriptions
• Solution partners: Sell Lyris HQ as a complement to or as part of their products and solutions
• Integration partners: Software companies that embed the Lyris HQ solution into their offering or complement it with an integration via Lyris' robust APIs
• Agency partners: Provide marketing expertise to their clients and are certified to properly sell, service and provide level-one support for Lyris HQ
• Referral partners: Connect Lyris with other marketers seeking a solution like Lyris HQ

Internet Marketing Can Help Businesses Grow

Every time a person visits your website and leaves without taking action, you have lost a prospect. The easiest way to capture that prospect and lead him or her into your sales funnel is through the effective use of e-mail marketing. Building an e-mail list through your website is a crucial element of keeping in touch with your prospects and increasing your sales.

Once visitors reach your website, they'll do one of three things.

They take action (make contact, signup or buy something), bookmark you or click away. If someone takes action, great! If they click away, there's not much you can do. And don't count on those bookmarking you to come back anytime soon.

Fortunately, with a smart e-mail marketing game plan and the right invitation, you've got your best shot for capturing their e-mail addresses. And that can only mean one thing: more business.

Step 1 is to use a professional online e-mail marketing service that provides the tools and support you need to be successful. There are several options depending on the size of your company, but I've been most happy with Aweber (www.aweber.com) during the past five years. If you have a webmaster, ask that person's preference. If you don't have a webmaster, go with Aweber for its simplicity and service. E-mail marketing services start at less than $20 per month.

Step 2 is to create the form (simple) at your e-mail marketing services website and paste the code for that form into your web pages. This is not as hard as it sounds. The e-mail marketing service will have a simple way to create the form, and you or your webmaster can just paste it right into your web site.

Step 3 is to create a compelling offer why a visitor should join your e-mail list. Best ideas include a special white paper or special report, a helpful top 10 list about your business or industry or even a coupon toward a visitor's first purchase. For the best shot of receiving those e-mail addresses, offer all three for signing up.

Step 4 is to create a thank you or autoresponder message. This is the e-mail your new subscribers will receive after they've signed up on your web site. This is a great place to introduce yourself, provide visitors what you offered in your invitation and let them know how you can help them any further.

Step 5 is to stay in touch with your subscribers every couple of weeks. What should you e-mail your list? Well, anything that would interest them as a potential customer.

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As a cheap SEO services provider, the totally SEO Manchester do also link popularity analysis for your website so that huge traffic can be achieve through link building, search engine marketing and optimization services. Totallyseo online marketing firm also provide free SEO consultancy services to the clients in U.K and worldwide so that the clients can aware about the current status of their website and also get to know which SEO package is best for promotion.




Totally SEO Manchester is dedicated to the field of online marketing providing cheap SEO services, web design services and PPC management services to the clients. The main focus of this Manchester SEO Company is to work with business owners by educating them about various online marketing channels and creating a customised solution which will ensure better results for their business in terms of Page rankings, Sales, Awareness & Branding.




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Shanda Profit Falls 60%

Chinese online media company Shanda Interactive Entertainment Ltd. said Thursday its second-quarter net profit fell 60% from a year earlier due to higher expenses and a slight decline in revenue at its online games unit.

The company's games unit, Shanda Games Ltd., reported a 16% decline in second-quarter net profit because of decreased sales and margins, though the results were in line with analysts' expectations. The unit also said it plans to acquire Korean game developer Eyedentity Games Inc. and to form an online-game joint venture with China Network Television.

Shanda Games said given Eyedentity Games' portfolio of internationally licensed games, its planned acquisition of the company would support plans for global growth, and its said its joint venture with China Network Television would offer new game products and online video.

Sales in China's online game sector have slowed as the industry has matured, weighing on the results of both Shanda Interactive and Shanda Games. In response, Shanda Interactive has sought to diversify its business by boosting revenue from businesses such as online literature and videos.

Shanda Interactive's net profit for the three months ended June 30 was 168.8 million yuan ($24.8 million), down from 426.9 million yuan a year earlier. Its earnings per American Depositary Share fell to 2.76 yuan, from 6.14 yuan a year earlier, below the average 53 cents per ADS forecast by nine analysts in a Thomson Reuters poll.

The company's total operating expenses grew to 597.6 million yuan from 385.6 million yuan a year earlier because of higher costs for product development and sales and marketing.

Shanda Games reported a second-quarter net profit of 304.3 million yuan, down from 363.2 million yuan a year earlier. Analysts had forecast a net profit of 16 cents per ADS, according to a poll by Thomson Reuters.

Chocolate, Vanilla, or Swirl: The Debate Between Online and Offline Marketing

Cone or cup. Rent or buy. Hire or outsource. Fund or cut. Clearly, there are times when you have to choose one thing at the exclusion of another.

But, that’s not always the case.

And, contrary to what others may lead you to believe, marketers today shouldn’t be struggling to decide between online or traditional marketing practices.

Quite simply, this is not one of those classic “either/or” propositions. Instead, the key to marketing success these days is to develop a productive mix, to strike an effective balance, between digital and more traditional “offline” tactics. Right now, it’s more important than ever before to integrate messaging across a variety of channels so that you offer a seamless, compelling experience –wherever your customers and prospects are, and whenever they choose to engage.

I am not debating that digital marketing offers tremendously valuable opportunities to reach out to and connect with consumers. In fact, when Aprimo polled hundreds of marketing professionals who attended Online Marketing Summit events over the past few months, we found that, not surprisingly, 62 percent are increasing their spend for online marketing. It makes great sense. Digital is more cost effective, easier to measure and satisfies instant gratification – for our online audience, as well as for us as marketers.

Marketing Internet Strategy – Why Your Business Needs an Optimization Engine

In case you didn’t know, an optimization engine can play a huge role in your business’s overall success. Nowadays, most people suffer from business downfalls, with what the recession and all. So, if you truly want to protect your business, regardless of what might happen, you need to look at your possibilities in strategies for online marketing, such as an optimization engine and meta HTML.

A lot of businesspeople mistakenly believe that just having a business website can help them succeed, but this is not the case. If you do not have a marketing internet strategy whatsoever to go with that website, you could actually lose any hold you might have had over your competition and also lose more customers in the process.

If you have plans of making a new website from scratch or of updating your current website, an optimization engine would be a great way to do some online marketing for it. This would be essential to make sure that your business website ends up having high rankings in the end. All you have to do to get this done is look for a certain marketing internet strategy that leading companies use for their businesses in today’s day and age: one that involves an optimization engine.

As high as the amount of companies who concentrate on search engine optimization or SEO may be, it would still be important for you to find the one that will match your business to a tee. Since the importance of your business cannot be rivaled, you need to focus all of your attention on finding the best optimization engine for it. This happens to be the best online marketing move that you could make today.

The greatest marketing internet strategy should incorporate various things, such as keyword search, meta HTML, link popularity and online marketing of your site. Just by finding the right keywords to work with – which you can do by doing proper research – you can make your website rank high in no time at all; believe it. Another benefit would be that you will be able to generate a ton of traffic without having to pay a cent. As you can see, website optimization doesn’t just have the power to make your rank high, but it would also be the best and quickest way to get the most traffic to your website as possible.

ASA to extend regulations on online marketing

Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) is to extend its advertising regulation to corporate websites, social networking sites such as Facebook or Twitter and mobile applications.

UK is going to introduce one of the world's most ambitious efforts of regulating the online marketing from March of next year.

The Chairman of ASA, Chris Smith said, "When this goes live next March this will be the most comprehensive approach to the regulation of advertising in website space anywhere in the world."

The ASA has received around 4500 complaints related to online marketing in recent years, which, it failed to fix.

But with the new rules, to be applicable from 1 March 2011, ASA will be able to maintain the self-regulatory system in the industry, especially ensuring the safety of children on social networking sites which is a major issue of concern these days.

There will be a "rogues' gallery" on the ASA website and warnings that will appear in the search results.

Along with this there will be list of products and brands of companies that refuse to comply with the code.

Social Media Marketing – NOT for Everyone?

After 10 years of preaching the merits of search engine optimization to sceptical business owners, I’ve found there’s a new challenge in online marketing and it’s a funny one.

Nearly all business owners I meet think they should use social media marketing to promote their businesses, but a good number have a real aversion to using social networking channels.

I am finding many people are afraid that if they don’t start using social media they’ll end up behind their competition – or even that they are just going to be missing out on this ‘next big thing’. I’ll be called in for a consultation on using social media for a business, and after discussing the ins and outs of a successful social media campaign, I see there’s something not quite clicking — but as averse to using social media the client may be, he still feels that he must use it.

Do you convince such people that they need to push on, as social media marketing is a necessity these days, or is social media just not for everyone?

Whilst we’ve all heard the benefits of using social media to promote businesses, the dilemma is that using social media as an effective marketing tool also requires:

* some technical ability (albeit pretty basic);
* time, when you may already have issues with time management;
* putting yourself ‘out there’, the social aspect of social media is intimidating to many;
* creative writing skills;
* buy-in from management that may be concerned about dealing with unfriendly comments, time and money spent, etc.;
* a budget to hire a professional to get started or run your campaign, if you just cannot manage it internally.

Mariner Energy down 2 pct after platform explosion

Mariner Energy shares dropped about 2 percent Thursday following news that one of its production platforms exploded in the Gulf of Mexico.

Mariner shares lost 47 cents, or 2 percent, to $22.88 in midday trading.

The platform is west of where BP's Deepwater Horizon exploded in April, setting off a massive oil spill.

Ex-Wachovia Chief Steel Says Bair Sought to Avert Systemic Risk

Former Wachovia Corp. Chief Executive Officer Robert Steel told a panel probing the bank’s near-collapse in 2008 he was ordered by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to head off a meltdown of the banking system by selling his company.

FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair informed Steel on Sept. 28, 2008, that “Wachovia’s situation posed a systemic risk” and that he should begin talks with Citigroup Inc., Steel said in testimony prepared for today’s hearing before the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission. Citigroup then made an offer supported by a loss- sharing agreement with the FDIC, only to be trumped within days when Wells Fargo & Co. bid more for Wachovia without U.S. aid.

The hearings in Washington are examining events during the financial crisis and the government’s decision to salvage firms such as Wachovia and American International Group Inc., while leaving others such as Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. to collapse. Former Lehman CEO Richard Fuld is scheduled to testify today, while Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke and Bair are slated to speak tomorrow.

“The government had deemed Wachovia too big to fail; Lehman fell into a different bucket and we have lots of questions why,” said Tucker Warren, a spokesman for the commission.

Steel, the former U.S. Treasury Department and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. executive, was brought in to lead Charlotte, North Carolina-based Wachovia in 2008 as the lender struggled to recover from the aftermath of its $24 billion purchase of Golden West Financial Corp. The deal saddled Wachovia with about $120 billion of adjustable-rate mortgages that allowed borrowers to skip some interest payments and add them to the loan balance.

Source : http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-09-01/former-wachovia-chief-steel-says-fdic-s-bair-sought-to-avert-systemic-risk.html