Internet Marketing Course BLOG

by Rick Burnes
Hubspot’s Inbound Internet Marketing Blog
November 18, 2008

Dave’s Comments (Internet Marketing Course Blog): What an insightful and helpful article! Rick Burnes does a masterful job of integrating the next round of Internet Marketing initiatives and showing how they can form the basis of a comprehensive online “Inbound Marketing” strategy. The comparison of Inbound Marketing tools to “Outbound Marketing” tools is spot-on. An excerpt with one of the charts from this blog entry is given below. I suggest you STOP whatever you’re doing, take 10 minutes and read the entire article (link below). You will not be disappointed!

“What Is Inbound Marketing?”

“Inbound Marketing is marketing focused on getting found by customers.

In traditional marketing (outbound marketing) companies focus on finding customers. They use techniques that are poorly targeted and that interrupt people. They use cold-calling, print advertising, T.V. advertising, junk mail, spam and trade shows.

Technology is making these techniques less effective and more expensive. Caller ID blocks cold calls, TiVo makes T.V. advertising less effective, spam filters block mass emails and tools like RSS are making print and display advertising less effective. It’s still possible to get a message out via these channels, but it costs more.

Inbound Marketers flip outbound marketing on its head.

Instead of interrupting people with television ads, they create videos that potential customers want to see. Instead of buying display ads in print publications, they create their own blog that people subscribe to and look forward to reading. Instead of cold calling, they create useful content and tools so that people call them looking for more information.

Instead of driving their message into a crowd over and over again like a sledgehammer, they attract highly qualified customers to their business like a magnet.”

Read the entire article by clicking on this link:

“Inbound marketing & the Next Phase of Marketing on the Web”

Technorati Tags:Business, Internet Marketing, Marketing, Search Engine Marketing, Web Marketing

Link to: Internet Marketing Course

Karen Rubin and Rick Burnes
HubSpot’s Inbound Internet Marketing Blog
October 31, 2008

Dave’s Comments (Internet Marketing Course Blog): Why did HubSpot want to interview Larry Weber about the future of marketing and branding? Because Larry, as it says on the Digital Influence Group Web site, “is a globally known expert in public relations and marketing services. Passionate about the convergence of technology, the web and communications, he is a frequent public speaker on the future of marketing, the social web and building communities online.”

Larry also wrote one of the first (and best) overviews of social media marketing. Titled, “Marketing to the Social Web: How Digital Customer Communities Build Your Business”, the book has been out about 15 months – the revised second edition is due out in January ’09.

So sit back and enjoy a really thought-provoking conversation with an acknowledged social media marketing guru (video lasts 30 minutes).

Read Karen and Rick’s comments by clicking on the following link:

Larry Weber on the Future of Marketing and Branding

Technorati Tags:Business, Internet Marketing, Marketing, Search Engine Marketing, Web Marketing

Link to: Internet Marketing Course

By Inside CRM Editors
January 23, 2008

Learn to use Facebook as an advertising platform.

Dave’s Comments (Internet Marketing Course Blog): I just came across a link to this article on the “Inside CRM” Web site. Even though this article was published back in January ’08, it’s still timely and relevant. They actually do list 100 Facebook tips and the best part is that each tip is really a link to a more detailed explanation of that tip. Incredible amount of info on a very timely subject for Internet marketers.

“In the last couple of years, Facebook has gone from a college photo-sharing site to a burgeoning business- networking platform for self-promotion, advertising and multimedia interaction. With new apps and add-ons, Facebook users can send each other a virtual drink, create and host events, advertise their businesses through social ads, and more. When Charlie Gibson hosted the debate for the 2008 presidential candidates along with Facebook, the little networking site became a powerhouse in the online-marketing community.

If you’re thinking of tapping into the Facebook crowd for some high-profile advertising, take a look at this list of 100 tools and tips that will help you maximize all of the applications and opportunities that Facebook has to offer.”

Read the entire article by clicking on the folloiwng link:

Facebook Marketing Toolbox: 100 Tools and Tips

Technorati Tags:Business, Internet Marketing, Marketing, Search Engine Marketing, Web Marketing

Link to: Internet Marketing Course

eMarketer
October 28, 2008

Social network ads can seem intrusive.

Dave’s Comments (Internet Marketing Course Blog): As this article points out nicely, you can reach young adults by advertising on their favorite forms of communicating with each other, but you might not be too happy with the results! A really interesting read!

“Responding young adults in the US said e-mail and direct mail were bigger influencers on their purchasing decisions than social networks, according to recently released data from an ExactTarget-sponsored survey conducted by the Ball State University Center for Media Design.

Mike Bloxham, research director at Ball State, noted in a statement that just because 18-to-34-year-olds like to spend time on social networks does not mean advertisers should try to reach them there.”

“It is too easy to assume that the media consumers choose for their own news, information and entertainment are, by default, the best media to use for marketing messages,” Mr. Bloxham said.”

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“The researchers noted that college students were particularly spam-savvy and believed private communications such as SMS and social networks were off-limits for marketers.”

Read the entire article by clicking on the following link:

Digital Tactics for Reaching Young Adults

Technorati Tags:Business, Internet Marketing, Marketing, Search Engine Marketing, Web Marketing

Link to: Internet Marketing Course

by Jim Spencer
JBS Partners
August 2008

Dave’s Comments (Internet Marketing Course Blog): I was doing some “catch-up” reading this weekend and came across a great Twitter tutorial. Like everyone else, I’ve heard the buzz, or should I say the “tweeting”, about Twitter, even opened an account, but never did anything with it until I read this how-to by Jim Spencer. A quick, informative read to get you tweeting too!

“I surely thought Twitter was for the birds after creating my Twitter account back in early 2007. As an entrepreneur, I find that time and resources need to be well targeted and purposeful. I could see no purpose as I stared at the blank screen. This was not a resource for me.

Today, I can confirm both customer and colleague relationships initiated through Twitter as well as many friendships and even money in the bank. Here is how that all changed, after a Twitter primer.”

Click on the following link to read the entire article:

Is Twitter for the Birds? A Tweet Tweet Tutorial

Technorati Tags:Business, Internet Marketing, Marketing, Search Engine Marketing, Web Marketing

Link to: Internet Marketing Course