How?

Well, the concept is simple.  And for this post, we won’t belabor the point.

• When the content of your sub-domain, whether it is a store, a blog, a photo gallery, etc. relates to your main domain, then install the content in the domain’s root.

For SEO purposes, www.interactivemarketing.me/interactive-blog is more desirable than interactive-blog.interactivemarketing.me

So, remember!  When doing your site redesigns, take into account optimal information architecture and sitemaps for optimal SEO.  Please comment below on your experiences.

The new version includes:

• New and improved dashboard with more user-friendly toolbars and menus
• Contextual help and tips for usage
• Developer API improvements

And lastly, for you Jazz heads, it dedicates it version prowess to Jazz Great Sonny Stitt.  Check it out!

I’ve studied India’s entrepreneurial spirit for years now, off and on.  It INSPIRES me to learn and understand how some of the ideas are manifested into great business models.  What I’ve learned is that for the most part, there is a BIG concentration on creating Usable and Functional web sites and applications.

Having outsourced some work to a group in Bangalore in the past, I am always extremely elated to find out what they are working on.  Their insight and cutting edge application of strategies is sometimes mind-boggling.  Why?  They are HUNGRY and they know how to band together to make their resources work for them.  This group in Bangalore… if they don’t have the resources, time, or money, I can be guaranteed that they can share the requirements and get a job done.  Period.

Lastly, even in times when I came up with the diamond studded blinging idea, they are always inspirational in saying  ”… but Johnson, what is the business model?”

I am thoroughly impressed with ZOHO.com’s suite of products.  I’ve recently started using the BOOKS component for my website accounting and it is a wonderful tool.  Honestly, I am absolutely torn between Freshbooks and Zoho, and in using both, am still trying to figure out who I’ll stick with in 2012.

Zoho.com, has some strong guys in its management profile… and again, the ease of use and functional approach to a working website has been a phenomenal asset to my end of year Profit and Loss calculations.

Try it for yourself, and report back to me.

So after some inner reflection, I’ve repurposed and listed my thoughts towards social media into a small list of what it means to me, or what I’ve used it for.

1. Networking:  Just today, as “social media” and “social networking” directly convey, I was able to take a DM asking me to post an event and post it as a favor.  After several Retweets, conversation started as a result of someone wanting to attend the event.  The event was related to career development and the attendee wanted to crank start a new career.  I felt GREAT about being able to make the connection.  This is what Social is about, especially from an Interactive Marketing slant…. Always remember that giving VALUE directly relates to the OUTCOME of your social media engagement.
2. Direct Monetization:  Don’t hate on me because I can make money per Tweet   The fact is that companies like TwtMob are actively looking for niche Social Media activists for campaigns that directly relate to their goals.  While Tweeting or Facebooking can be “fun”, making a few dollars before hitting SEND can also be just as engaging.
3. Education & News:   Twitter can be JUST as engaging for me in real time.  Recently, several Tweets I’ve read were so live and real time that Atlanta news trucks had not even been dispatched.
4. Boosting Employer:  Let’s face it, if you work somewhere, then your livelihood depends on that company remaining viable.  Why not put the good word out occasionally about products and services that your company may offer if if fits.  Being in the Interactive space, my company provides plenty of tools that would be an asset to many of my professional and personal friends.  Occasionally, send a shot out to your company’s Tweeter(s)!
5. Cultural Expansion:  I have to admit that a few of my Followers do some pretty amazing things both professionally and socially.  I have to admit that I am guilty of Twitter “intrigue”.  If I didn’t Google the person, I may have googled what they “do” in order to learn more about it.   Oh, and as a lover for BBQ, there are a few places I HAVE to try based on suggestions from followers.
6. Saving Money:  This may just be an side effect of getting News, but Saving Money is a benefit when we’ve shared coupons and deals around the city.

What makes your Social experience worth it being a part of your day?

• SEO Fabulous? Can be improved.

• Traffic?  Niche site topic, but with improved SEO, can own the niche!
• Technology?  Good Content Management Backbone
• Social?  Good content distribution with great RT and LIKE engagement
• Analytics?  Implementation has been there for years.  Time to make some adjustments based on them!
• Monetization?  Suckola.  Crappola.  Suckology.org.

This data is embedded in code for a particular product.  Most CMS and/or shopping cart platforms are including this rich snippet data in their integrations.

The rich snippet markup exists in your pages, but does not affect the way the browser presents your page.

The result of the markup is a “richer” experience which may encourage a higher click through.

Check out more about Rich Snippets by clicking here:  http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=99170

Being a small ecommerce site owner, he instantly said to “increase sales and leads”.

My reply was, “…increase from what, measuring what indicators??”

The only key performance indicator he knew to mention was $Dollars Revenue.

The Need For a BaseLine

At my sons’ baseball games recently, there was a big emphasis by coaches of these young boys to run within the baselines.  On defense, in the field, they used the baseline as a measure of how close to the batter they should stand, ready to field a potential hit.  The baseline, normally in baseball, does not move, but does allow hits to be judged foul or fair, gives the players a solid border of the infield, and connects point Home Plate to first, second, and third bases.

In Interactive Marketing, my friend was not aware of his Baselines.  Because of this, he did not have a realistic approach to what actions he needed to take to improve his Online Sales.

In any improvement, or venture to improvement, one needs to consider where they are (baseline), in relation to where they need to be!

Consider some of the following high level measures and how they could give the real health of your ecommerce funnel:

• Level of engagement:  depends on number of visitors and the time spent on site and/or number of pages browsed.
• Targets reached:  Setting a baseline and measuring how many people are reaching that target is advantageous to your understanding of the status of your online sales.  Targets could be key pages browsed, time on site, number of pages browsed, number of minutes on chat etc.
• Number of drop-offs in sales funnel:  How many people bailed after the first steps?
• Number of contact us forms: How many people completed the forms fully?
• Number of people who clicked through to site from social media initiatives and what they did afterwards…

Your baseline is going to help you to offer engaging solutions, improve current processes, and prioritize marketing spend, R&D, and new customer account management.

Good luck in finding your Base Line!

When is the last time that you have achieved a 95.63% click through rate?  This is from a CJ.com affiliate promotion… May unveil more on the affiliate later, but I would say that with almost 2 digit EPC’s, I am WAY behind on making an order or a sale.

HMMMMMMMM

3,000 companies using our data and doing two billion transactions a month right now… And in terms of public perception and resources, we have a team of almost 60 people here; data scientists and all these folks are working everyday to continuously improve our data.

HMMMM….  guess there can be good and bad things on the social footprint.  Bad because they are tracking the heck out of us with data scientists and good because your pal Brandon has been deemed an Influencer on Social Media, Marketing, & Developers.

I am a Socializer with a score of  35.

But these analytics are good because it shows that I have not interacted well with my nearly 3,000 followers on this account.  Work to do?  Maybe so if this is my personal brand

OR, how about one of the other Twitter branding accounts I have with over 8200 followers?  Hmmm…. because this brand is centered on Entertainment and things to do in Atlanta, it’s funny that we are influential on Alcohol, Sales, Kanye West, Cricket, and the National Anthem.

Heineken, Hennessy, Jose Cuervo…. here we come to ask for alcohol sponsorships!