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As new technologies are embraced, often the older stalwarts of the industry are resistant to change. This has been seen in the advertising industry, where ad agencies who traditionally buy large amounts of ad space are now coming together with the online giants to get the most out of their online campaigns.

The NY Times puts together an interesting article that examines some of the new partnerships that are appearing with the marketing giants of yore and the modern super companies. Both Google and Microsoft are attending an annual advertising industry night in France.

Analysts are suggesting that these moves have come about from the economic climate, combined with individual’s increased Internet usage. With consumers having less money to spend, they are more cautious with their research and purchasing, looking for the bargain online.

The issue comes with making money from the digital medium. The Internet has been built on the premise of free exchange of information, which means that companies have always had to look for additional methods to make money out of consumers.

Many ideas have come and gone, with varying levels of success. The one constant at the moment is paid per click advertising on the search engines, which have had a large level of success for both sides of the equation, with 98% of Google’s revenue coming from the ad space on their search results. Other money raising adventures such as interrupted browsing (like TV ads) didn’t prove as successful.

The questions being raised by consumers surely would include whether this meeting is for the good of the consumers, or whether the corporations will be the only ones to gain a benefit.

 “My discomfort with marketing myself is holding me back from advancing in my career or building my business”. Larina Kase, New York Times Bestselling author of the Confident Speaker.

 
Many people do not like the word ‘self promotion’. We can promote all our friends, family, products, co-workers and employees, but when it comes to promoting ourselves we often shy away or avoid the topic all together. Larina Kase believes we need to overcome this fear because studies show acknowledgment; awareness and connections are the most powerful predictors of promotion. Therefore, it is important to know, one can be the best person in the world at what they do, but if their accomplishments and results are kept a secret, they will be too.

 
 So why should we market ourselves? Don’t we want to advance in our professional life or grow our businesses? If you are aware of the good you bring to your clients, customers and so forth, you will notice you want to encourage this and bring this good and passion to other people. Have you ever had a job promotion or gained a bit of self success and seen the positive effect it has had on your own personal life; your family, your partner, you favourite charity, your community, your friends. Larina believes these factors would entice one to promote themselves also known as sharing your results. When you think about sharing your results or success the uncomfortable notion of self promotion seems to go away.

 
One does not want to be promoting themself obnoxiously or to excess, however we also don’t want to be the extreme on the other end and be overly humble, if we are no one will know what we have to offer others. Below are a few simple steps to help a confident leader position and promote themselves.

 
Step 1: Understand How You Want People to See You- what word should come to mind when someone thinks of you and your business? Be comfortable without being too humble; think of your greatest strengths and how you want to be viewed.

 
Step 2: Realise your Commitment and Where You Can Begin Today- take small steps and express your ideas to close friends.

 
Step 3: Organise Your Team- set up your team and find out who promotes you, clients, friends employees. Simply ask them to express their thoughts to others.

 
Step 4: Win with the Right Decision- express and promote a few important values that define you and reinforces your brand.

 
Step 5: Turn Anxiety into Optimal Energy- remember that you are working together and sharing how you will help and make a difference to others. Share your value in how you can make others feel better.

 
Step 6: Explore your Strengths and Release Control- don’t self promote from a defensive angle, there is no need to overcompensate. It’s a positive move promoting yourself because you are valuable and have plenty to offer. Be confident and honest in yourself; weave your attributions and good aspects into conversation with others.

 
Believing in yourself and discovering a way to express your own personal contributions, in your own way, will help in achieving your career goals and aspirations while at the same time, bringing joy and benefit to others.

Imagine you were an Internet user in a country that does not use the Roman Character set to compose words in your language, such as China. How does a web user type in your address if their keyboard does not support Roman characters?

Well soon it will become much easier for these users, as The Age Technology section reported this afternoon that a concept called ” Internationalisation of Domain Names (IDNs)” has been suggested and in discussion.

What does this mean for web users across the world? Well, it enables businesses - especially local businesses communicate with their market in a much more effective channel. It allows for respect of local customs and culture, as well as allowing them to reach a much larger section of their market.

But it works in a larger way for businesses that are trying to expand globally, as a business in Australia can create a much more effective communication medium to generate business in China for example.

So not only would this be a win for businesses all over the world, but also a win for everyone that uses the Internet in making it so much more accessible. A great initiative that I hope will succeed.

In the past there have been a few reoccurring myths circulating around about Google Analytics, some of them very farfetched and some almost believable. With the knowledge and viewpoints of a few Google Analytics representatives from the US, this post will outline and clarify a few common misconceptions and ambiguities.

Myth 1: “You get what you pay for” Google Analytics is free, which means you don’t get very much for the service and the system is commonly down allot.
Google Analytics runs on the same network as the most reliable and secure search engine google.com, making down time an extremely rare situation. Google Analytics has a large team focusing solely on keeping user’s data safe and accessible. Google Analytics is also able to help the user benefit from multiple redundancies on their infrastructure around the globe; this also assists in making the program very fast.

If this hasn’t solved the myth, Google also relies on Google Analytics for their own company data and ad words campaigns; it raises the question, why would Google the biggest search engine in history, with incredible amounts of traffic use an analytics program which was unreliable with considerable downtime? This simply does not make any sense.

Myth 2: Google Analytics only uses third-party cookies.
This is totally false! Google Analytics has always used first party cookies. First party cookies are important because they allow Google Analytics to track repeat visitors, so you can see which keyword or referring site etc. is responsible for bringing in qualified buyers.

Myth 3: Google Analytics is basic and doesn’t have any “advanced” features or metrics.
Google Analytics features over 90 standard reports and more than 125 metrics and dimensions covering all aspects from the amount of visits per keyword to internal site searches. The program features customised reports and user defined variables which allows one to create reports allocated to their personal or business needs. Google Analytics reports now feature pivoting, advanced segmentation, secondary dimensions, event tracking and are able to share customisation of each report. The most important thing to note is, Google Analytics’ is basic to use, but definitely not basic in terms of its features and what it can offer.

Myth 4: You can’t segment data in Google Analytics.
Google Analytics in 2008 created and developed three new enterprise features; advanced segmentation, custom reporting and motion charts. The advanced segmentation addition allows you to separate user behaviour in order to see and understand the differences in user views. You can set up segment visits by different dimensions including geographic locations, time on site, referral from site, search engines use and more. A Google analytics user can then create segments further and add and apply them to virtually all the standard reports in Google Analytics’ and also customised reports.

Myth 5: You have to spend allot of money to get “proper” web analysis.
The most important factor to be aware about with Google Analytics is the need to have someone at your organisation that understands how to use and operate Google Analytics as well as being able to put your data to use. Yes, it is possible for someone to go and spend large amounts of money on analytics programs but one must remember this money could be spent on getting results for example on hiring a talented analyst to look at your data.

The question often arises, “if Google analytics is free, what’s in it for Google?” Google benefits from this tool in two ways. If web developers build better sites, it helps Google connect searches with the information they need faster, it also lifts user experience encouraging searches to search frequently on Google. Secondly, if advertises use Google they are able to see their advertising ROI, which helps Google demonstrate the value of Google Adwords. Both these factors demonstrate a strong case study for Goggles ideologies and success.

It is free, so there is no loss in downloading, check it out yourself and see how comprehensive you find it.

Every business should look at the alternatives available to them in order to continually build hype and excitement about their brand.
Let’s face it, with so many brands competing for the market’s limited dollar – what can your business do to get potential and current clients talking about you.

One way in which this is possible, is through online contests in which you can work to get clients excited about your brand and keep them buzzing about the end offer – which is of course a prize. The key is to align this prize with your brand’s message to make the impact even greater.
The trick is to ensure that the contest you plan to run stands out from the rest. This means the right preparation.

Creating the right idea
It’s all in the planning stage and the first step is that you need to figure out what you want from your contest. The question to ask yourself is what can your contest offer that will lead to your objective be it brand awareness, or enticing visitors to sign-up for a newsletter.
Then let the fun begin! What crazy (yet manageable) ideas can you and your team come up with? Think of your target market and think outside the box. You will get points for being different rather than imitating something that has already been done.
The idea is to relate your brand name with something innovative and exciting.

Time Frame Involved
In regards to the timeframe involved how long is the entire process going to run for? This includes the idea generation stage up until the time when a winner is announced.
The types of contests that are most successful are the ones that give people the right amount of time to do what you intend. When you decide what you want the users to do (create and post a video or create a blog post) it’s essential that you have the resources to handle it. It’s also important to find the balance between keeping the contestants in the loop without annoying them until the contest ends.

Contest Promotion
What’s the point of creating a contest if no-one hears about it! This is where social media outlets such as Twitter and Facebook can help generate the buzz to get people excited about your contest. The benefit of this is that these marketing outlets will give you the opportunity to get a whole new market excited about your brand. Sure, most people’s primal interest will be in the prize however take this opportunity to be bold and try new things.

And the winner is…
So how does it all end? You have drawn people to your site and they are excited about what you have to offer – so how will you ensure that the final announcement packs the biggest punch? It’s important to remember that all of this new found attention (and potential new customer base) needs to be fostered to reap the contest’s long term benefit.

One of the great ironies of the whole Web 2.0 “social” connection fad is that although we are supposed to be connecting with one another on a  more personal level, yet we still rely on the big corporations to do so. Myspace, Facebook, Twitter, Digg and hosting companies all dictate whether we can broadcast our message, however Opera is trying to buck the trend.

Opera Unite is a new concept in the Opera browser where you can use your computer as a small server, allowing other people to stream your music, photos and have a small, private chat room. Opera provides the interface (which can be edited with CSS to make it look unique) so you just have to generate your URL, allow your friends to connect, and share away.

Opera hasn’t been afraid of including additional modules in the past (often with cutting edge features such as a torrent client), but this is a new way of looking at how we use the internet. It means that you can, with very little knowledge share information with anyone you want. Don’t like Picasa’s interface? Host your own photos. Want to share your latest mashup? Allow your friends to stream from your computer.

As with any technology, there are teething problems, however there is an API available so budding developers can expand on the platform. The potential is there for a whole new way of getting in contact with people, but without the restrictions placed on you by “the man”.

One potential downside of this is artist’s rights and the privacy of users, which is in the news at the moment with the Pirate Bay and RAIA cases going on overseas. If anyone can share their music without a larger organisation, it makes policing much tougher. What about if the users wanted to start a private child pornography ring? Again, the freedom of information must be balanced with making sure that there is some security in the system.

Microsoft is eager to get folks in the US to download the latest Internet Explorer 8 and are working hard at promoting awareness of the new browser. The software developers have proclaimed that for every download of windows Internet Explorer 8 of their ‘Better’ campaign website they will donate 8 meals to feeding struggling Americans and their families. Microsoft shows corporate social responsibility by actively accelerating an end to hunger in America. The company will donate $1.15 US dollars per complete download contributing a maximum of $1 million dollars.

The company is aiming at building public awareness and increasing active use of the browser. As of late, Microsoft has seen its browser market share fall. The once leading company which topped market share of 90 percent has seen declines with their competitor Mozilla Firefox gaining considerable ground. A report last month show Internet Explorer global market share at 65.5 percent, compared with 22.5 percent for Firefox, 8.4 percent for Safari and 1.8 percent for Goggle’s Chrome.

To promote the food donation campaign, the company staged events in San Francisco and New York this week. The below image show artists adding the finishing touch to the replica of the Golden Gate Bridge, constructed from soup cans. On the day, Microsoft makers proclaimed that they will donate meals to a food bank for each download of Internet Explorer 8.

This article reinforces the notion that website owners and developers should be aware of the popularity of different browsers. When making changes or building websites one should always test how a site configures and navigates in all popular browsers. As different browsers become more or less popular it is important to know how the public and searches are seeing and viewing your website.

How do you market a search engine? This is one of the most difficult conundrums facing those who are trying to gain their share of the search market.

Interactions between a search engine and its users tend to be much more frequent than most businesses as visitors are constantly coming back on multiple occasions. The interesting thing about this is that 25% of the time search engines are right on the money, in that they return the type of search results that user’s are looking for.

On the flip side of this, 25% of search results returned were not at all what the user was after.  The reason for this was that the results returned either ceased to exist or simply were not available on the web.

So why is it so difficult to market a search engine? Well the reason is that it’s more difficult to market this type of direct experience – especially if the search result returned is not what the user was after. For new search engines, the aim of the game is to take away some of Google’s traffic and direct it those search engines. This is of course a great challenge for new search engines as users who currently are satisfied with one search engine (think Google) are probably less likely to look at using something new.

There are of course recent scenarios where this may not be the case – but whether this will actually lead to some type of longevity remains to be seen. For example, Microsoft’s new search engine baby Bing has received a lot of hype since its launch which has no doubt lead to a significant number of user’s trialing this new engine. However, will a user permanently make the move to Bing if their search results are not significantly better quality than those of Google’s?

Keep your eyes peeled for an update on the success of Bing in a few months. We will have a clearer indication at that stage whether anyone even remembers what Bing is!

In most families, mums are the decision makers for family purchases. In order to keep up with their children, mums are going online and are now among the most savvy users of all online users. From statistics, mums are one of the largest online user groups.

As all marketers should know, mums not only holds the key to purchase decisions but they are also quite influential:

They shop for their kids—and themselves, and when they find something great for their family, they talk about it, not only with their family and friends, but often with a much broader online audience.

I am sure you have or have met or even as a mum yourself, seek advice and share information. The internet, as you can see in the above image, is influencing moms in turn influencing others. So what sources are mums using to research information? From a survey by Cafemom, the top three information sources moms uses to make a purchase decision are general websites, referrals from friends and families and search engines. Mums are now less likely to use TV, magazines, newspaper or radio.

What will mums mostly likely purchase online? According to Cafemom, moms are most likely purchase clothes/fashion accessories, then secondly, food and cooking items, followed by baby and parenting gear.

Source: eMarketer

There is a old saying that goes something like “you can’t manage what you can’t measure”*, which has been used in business for a long time. It still amazes me when dealing with online marketing matters, people are happy to be ignorant in the results.

Obtaining the metrics of your success is one thing, but prior to that you need to determine exactly what you want your online marketing campaign to achieve, so you can accurately measure it.

Ask yourself: what do I want from online marketing? Regardless of what your business is, you will want a specific outcome for when a visitor lands on your site. Can you measure that?

On a more basic level, can you measure the number of people that are coming to your site? That is the simplest metric, yet one that many websites don’t even measure. How can you be aware of your online marketing success if you don’t establish a base level?

There are many tools out there to measure the success of a website, and the free package we normally recommend is Google Analytics. I won’t go into the detail of what this can do for you- check out this link for a more detailed overview.

Once you have a basic measuring package in place, you can start to think about how the reported numbers are reflected on your site and its usage. Do you have a large amount of information on certain pages? You would assume they have people spending more time on there. Is another page full of links? Examine the number of people exiting from that page.

There are enough metrics to drive anyone insane, which is why we normally recommend people use a reputable online marketing company to help you make the most out of your hard earned data.

* If anyone knows who originally said this, leave a comment with the answer!