Mom’s Top 10 Steps To A Good Online Reputation

1. Put Your Best Foot Forward: As recently as a year ago, when things were newer, more experimental, a presence on MySpace only was fine. Not so anymore. You have to be everywhere, treating branding in the online world the way you would in the real world. Most social networks allow you to set up a profile page for free (the ones that matter most do anyway). Create your online persona (a polite one), then clone it as necessary.

2. Make Eye Contact: Just like in the real world, wallflowers don’t get noticed. The wallflower is most likely an incredible resource – it’s just that nobody knows her because she doesn’t put herself out there. Be a participant by commenting, inviting, giving. Show up at your new neighbor’s door with a gift. It always goes over well – just remember to button your blouse.

3. You Are a Reflection of Your Mother (Company): Nobody likes a poorly kept lawn except the lazy bum that lives behind it. Maintain your public face on the social networks, shine your shoes, crease your pants, embrace your OCD. It may not be your homepage, but it is a home away from home. Maintaining several of these online presences is work, but so is business.

4. Keep An Open Mind: There’s an appropriate cliché for every situation – all your eggs in one basket comes to mind here – but I prefer my grandfather’s chestnut: “You drove your ducks to a damn poor market.” Poetic, that man was. For a long time it was search, search, search. Before that it was email, email, email. But now you need to integrate your campaign. Search is a staple, a pillar of your online campaign, but we also know that Wikipedia ranks consistently number one in the SERPs. That means you need a Wikipedia page, too. Note: YouTube also ranks well.

5. Become Necessary: Viral marketing is tricky, difficult business. But maybe it doesn’t have to be. Maybe if you realign your approach to reflect what you, as an individual enjoy, instead of being a salesperson, you can find a more intuitive connection with what the public wants to see. It’s often been said that a salesman sells himself more than the product. So if you want to make linkbait, think about what would cause you to bite first. If you look at your viral attempt and see more corporate talking points than linkable material, it’s time for a do-over.

6. Like the People that Like You (Even If You Think They’re Annoying): Barack Obama’s campaign people did something brilliant, and followed up with something not so brilliant. That makes it a great case study. An Obama fan set up a MySpace page and soon attracted thousands of friends. Instead of competing with his biggest fan, Obama endorsed the site as the official MySpace campaign headquarters. That was the brilliant part. After the page “got too big” for the original operator, the campaign crew took staged a coup to wrest control of the page from their biggest fan. That was the not so brilliant part, even if politics is mean by nature.

7. Watch Your Mouth: Again with the clichés that still hold true – if you don’t have anything nice to say, then don’t say anything at all. Steve Rubel learned the hard way that stream-of-consciousness blogging can have you saying something you wish you hadnÂ’t. Transparency doesn’t mean total access.

8. Don’t Be a Fake: Who do we dislike most in civilized society (aside from the violent)? Liars, cheats, and thieves. We don’t like them because we view them as betrayers. That principle applies online, too, when your network discovers you’re not what you say you are. And the mob’s wrath is one that is hard to endure. Ask Edelman PR about their Wal-Marting Across America campaign.

9. Mind Your Manners: Mom’s favorite Bible verse still applies: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Commonly referred to as the Golden Rule on Earth, in Cyberspace, manners and etiquette are becoming increasingly more important. People are getting angry about anonymous drive-by (rude) commentary, salesy and useless comment spam (spam in general constitutes harassment in some form)Â…the list of ethics and etiquette violations is a long one, so it’s probably best to ask yourself: Would I appreciate this if it were done to me?

10. Stay Hip. Right now, MySpace, Facebook, Wikipedia, and YouTube are essential, but they’re still relatively new. Few really saw SecondLife coming as a virtual marketplace. Still yet, only the early adopters are talking about Twitter. But change online is swift, and the smart marketer keeps up with what’s hot. The last thing you want to do is look outdated. Just don’t sell out your core identity in the process.

While that’s just ten guidelines out of many, Mom always had one rule that ruled them all: Use your head, dodo bird! This is a thinking man’s game. Indeed it is. Good luck with your campaigns.

WebProNews

A year ago, the two companies were reportedly in talks about a
merger, but those conversations were dismissed as rumors and
speculation. Well, here’s Microsoft and Yahoo 2.0.

A pairing in the spirit of a superhero teamup could happen if the
latest chatter about Yahoo and Microsoft proves true. Once again,
a potential merger is being considered, as neither company has
made gains against Google’s search and advertising dominance.

The Wall Street Journal said last year’s talks have become this
year’s discussions. Both Yahoo and Microsoft have been rejiggering
their online advertising products, but have not been able to eat
into Google’s lead.

“Short of a wholesale merger, Microsoft could spin its online
group into a separately-run Yahoo, in return for a Yahoo stake,”
the WSJ said. “Though a person familiar with the matter says
Microsoft would likely want to acquire Yahoo.”

Microsoft would have to take on some debt to do that, despite its
massive pile of cash and equivalents. Yahoo is up to a market cap
of over $38 billion, thanks to rumors of the Microsoft talks that
began in the New York Post.

The Post carried a story earlier in the week that claimed
Microsoft was ready to purchase 24/7 Real Media, in order to
offset Google’s DoubleClick deal as well as Yahoo’s Right Media
purchase. A Microsoft spokesperson would not comment on the
story to WebProNews, citing the article as rumors and speculation.

If Microsoft were to make a deal with Yahoo, the WSJ thinks
there could be some massive upheaval in Yahoo’s executive ranks.
Considering Yahoo’s performance for shareholders over the past
couple of years, it’s hard to think of that as a negative here.

While press release writing is important, press release distribution plays an equally important role in your return on ínvestment (ROI) with this marketing / public relations tool. Because without targeted distribution, many prospects, clients and other interested parties may not even read your latest announcement or hear about it via other channels; TV, radio, print publications, etc.

In order to bring your news to light with more of your targeted audience, try some of these tips for a more successful distribution:

Media Líst Management

Start a folder on your computer and in hard copy form for media lists in order to keep a líst of contacts readily available and updated. Identify media outlets - both online and off - in your targeted industries; for example: Business and Marketing. Add local, regional, national and International channels to cover television, radio, newspapers, magazines, online publications, newswire and other services.

A targeted media líst is an invaluable tool for most businesses. The best way to build your líst is to carefully watch, read and listen, then track media publications and shows, and to identify reporters and producers who would be interested in your story. Contact the media outlets as needed for their most recent contact name, email address, telephone and fax number, before sending your information.

Tip: Using contact management software program such as ACT! or Maximizer for this purpose can help you build and maintain relationships with the media. Even using Excel to create your own spreadsheets helps with organization.

There are several sources online that will help you build your media líst; however, keep in mind that not all of these sources will have up-to-date media information.

Newswires

Newswires distribute your press release directly to editors, other media outlets like Reuters and they also publish the press releases on their website. Many journalists rely on newswire sites for information and story ideas. Wires are often used by largër companies and non-profít organizations. They have the advantage of immediately reaching a broad range of media outlets across the country. The cost is usually $275 - $600 to send a single release, with pricing based on the number of words in your release (a minimum word count will usually apply.)

Mail, Fax, or Email

You can send the news release directly to the media yourself, using the mail, fax, or email. When in doubt about the best option, ask the journalists you will be sending your release to. This can have the advantage of creating a more personal connection with the people you send the release to. It can also be a more cost-effective option if you are targeting a small líst of journalists.

Database Building

Newswires offër a fast way to send your press release to a large number of editors. However, you can also build your own líst of media contacts using any of a number of media databases. Most charge either a monthly, annual or per use subscription fee. Search online for “media databases” and “media lists.”

Timing

It is best to send your news release early in the day and you will have a better chance of getting your story noticed if your release is not sent on a busy news day. For example, sending a news release out as a major strike or natural disaster was taking place would not be good timing. Mondays and Tuesdays are usually busy news days and by Friday most assignments have been handed out as journalists get ready for the weekend.

Helpful Tips:

1. Don’t send email press releases with attachments - they will be deleted immediately upon receipt.

2. If sending an email release, make sure to write the release within the body of the message.

3. Don’t bug editors. Editors receive hundreds of press releases on a daily basis. Chances are you will irritate most editors by making a second contact to ask if they received your press release.

4. Know deadlines of editors. If you are sending a time-sensitive release, don’t expect a magazine editor to cover your event scheduled for next week. Find out what the appropriate “lead time” is to send your press release for possible distribution in their media.

5. If writing about a web site, make sure the site is updated before you send your release. Editors will visit the site if they have an interest in your product/service.

Old-style marketing wasn’t easy, but at least we knew how to do it. If we wanted to buy TV ads or print ads, we hired some creative people—or even a whole ad agency’s worth. If we wanted to do publicity, we hired a PR person. Whatever kind of marketing you wanted to do, you could just hire an expert.

Times have changed.

One of the things that makes Internet marketing difficult is that you can’t centralize it, but you must control it. You don’t succeed at search marketing by outsourcing it, or by hiring one expert—you must get everyone working on your Web site and on your Internet marketing to learn their piece of the job. Likewise, you’ll never have a blogging department—you need many employees writing their individual blogs to make a dent in your customers’ perceptions.

So, if centralization is out, what’s in? You control Internet marketing by establishing policies, providing training, and monitoring the results. Certainly you need to update your procedures so that employees know what’s to be expected of them. And you need to teach them new skills and approaches. Of course you must pay attention to success metrics.

And that’s the problem. It’s so much easier to centralize or outsource or delegate something to an expert, and so much harder to change your organizational culture to succeed with these new marketing approaches. So if you’ve been struggling to adapt to the new world of marketing, give yourself a break. Accept that it’s not the same as the old days. If you understand the kind of culture change you need, and how to bring it about, you’ll be more accepting of the time it takes to really make it happen. It’s OK to start slow and improve each day.

To win this championship round, MSN or Google has to conquer the most of the five rounds. Fox begins confident and strong and takes out Thomas in the first two rounds. MSN strikes back at Google by winning the next two rounds.

The score is now tied with one round left to go. As if Google and MSN didn’t have enough butterflies already, the judges made a controversial equipment replacement. The officials made this decision in order to keep the competition fair for the final round.

So, who takes the role as the best search engine of this Rock Em Sock Em fight? We would love to share the results with you, but we want to keep you biting your nails in suspense.

1. Good Keywords v2.01 (595 KB) finds the best keywords for your web pages. Features include Keyword Suggestions, Phrase Builder, Keyword Organizer, Misspelled Words, and Site and Link Popularity Finder. For Windows 95/ 98/ 2000/ NT/ XP.

2. Golden Phrases 1.0.3 (391 KB) is a analyzing utility that scans specified log files to retrieve all search phrases used by your visitors to find your website through search engines. It gathers search phrase statistics and determines the position of your site on search engines for every phrase. Its unique “Perspectivity rating” technology also allows you to find which keyphrases were not used. For Windows Windows 95/ 98/ Me/ NT/ 2000/ XP/ 2003.

3. PPC Keyword Generator (1.1 MB) is a powerful keyphrase permutator/generator. Generate 100s of keyphrases in seconds, remove duplicate keyphrases automatically, define per-keyphrase custom CPC/URLs and import/export. For Windows 98 and above.

4. Hixus Keyword Inventor 1.0 (679 KB) is a SEO and keyword popularity analysis front-end for the the Overture Keyword Suggestion Tool. Speeds up the process of finding popular keywords. For Windows 98/ ME/

NT4.x/ XP/ 2000.

5. e3KWDCheck 2.5b (920 KB) is a lightweight and fast SEO tool for analyzing keyword density within text documents. It can also retrieve and analyze online web documents using the built-in address bar. For Windows 95/ 98/ 2000/ NT/ ME/ XP.

6. Get Keywords 1.0 (289 KB) is a small program that finds keywords in files and then creates an optimized web page using selected keywords. Features include automatic words search, add/remove keywords options, web page creation and preview, etc. For Windows 98 and above.

7. Keyword Digger 1.0 (50 KB) is a simple tool designed to search Overture for all keywords people entered during the previous month. Provides the number of times a keyword was searched and up to 100 different variations for that term. For Windows 9x/ Me/ NT/ 2000/ XP.

8. AnalogX Keyword Extractor v1.03 (214 KB) extracts keywords from a webpage, and then sorts and indexes them based on their usage and position. Once indexed, you can adjust search-engine specific weighting factors and keyword criteria to get the best possible view of how a search engine sees your site. An older program but still useful. For Windows 95/ 98/ 2000/ NT/ XP.

SiteMap Generators

1. eXactMapper Lite 1.2 (1.1 MB) automates the process of creating professional site maps. It offers three different customizable html/dhtml site map styles, including a UL líst, static tree and an index page. For Windows 95/ 98/ ME/ NT/ 2000.

2. SiteMapBuilder.NET 1.5 (1.4 MB) allows you to create a Google XML SiteMap or text based sitemap. It also checks for URL errors. For Windows XP/ 2000/ 2003. Also requires .NET Framework.

3. Sitemap Creator (783 KB) is a sitemap creator that exports a directory structure to an html file. Does not read websites online. For all Windows versions.

* Net income rose 69% to $1 billion compared to $592 million a year earlier.
* Gross revenue up 63% to $3.66 billion.

Analysts had expected gross revenue of around $3.57 billion and much less profit per share than Google actually delivered.

Thus ends the name Froogle as a Google brand. It was launched in 2002, never really went anywhere, and was unceremoniously dumped from the Google home page last year in favor of video search. Traffic to the site fell dramatically.

Danny Sullivan has a good long writeup of the new service. Froogle (the brand) is now in the TechCrunch DeadPool.

There is a growing interest in the little known file that every website should have in the root directory: robots.txt

It’s a very simple text file you can find all about at the robotstxt.org website.

Why should you use it ? Here are some good reasons for you to consider.

Controlled Access to Your Content

With a robots.txt file you can “ask” the search engines to “keep out” of certain areas of your website. A typical area you might like to exclude is your images folder: If you aren’t a photographer, painter and your images are for your website use only, there are good chances you don’t want them to be indexed and showing up on image search engines, for people to download, or hotlink.

Unfortunately grabbers and similar software (such as Email harvesting applications) will not read your robots.txt file disregarding any indication you may provide in this respect. But that’s life isn’t it, always someone being disrespectful to say the least …

You can keep search engines away from content you wish to keep out of sight, but remember your robots file is also subject to attention of hackers seeking sensitive objectives you might inadvertently líst: keeping out the robots while inviting the hackers � keep this in mind.

The Growing Importance of Robots.Txt

At SES New York a robots.txt summit was held where major search engines (Ask, Google, Microsoft, Yahoo!) participated, sharing interesting information on this file. Here are some numbers.

According to Keith Hogan from Ask:

i) Less than 35% of websites have a robots.txt file

ii) The majority of robots.txt files are copied from others found online

iii) On many occasions robots.txt files are provided by your web hostíng service

It looks like the majority of webmasters aren’t familiar with this file. This is going to play a major role as the size of the web continues to grow: Spidering is a costly effort that search engines tend to optimize. Those web sites demonstrating optimal command (which in turn determines efficiency) will be rewarded.