I got the Photojojo newsletter yesterday, and found out about a cool project being run by GE. By uploading photos to Flickr through the GE Ecomagination site, you can help them to donate wind power, solar power and drinking water to an underdeveloped country. Check out the post about the project on PhotoJojo or go directly to the GE EComagination page to upload your wind,water, and light photos.
Below are the three photos I submitted to the project.
Wind
light
Water
Your Wind, Water, and Light Photos?
Let me know if you added your pics to the project, and I’ll check them out.
Online Legal Directory , which is one of our oldest niche directories is for sale. Well its not the oldest, but the domain is almost a decade old. It had actually been used by someone else prior to our registering the domain.
Who would want to buy a Legal Niche Directory?
An SEO or online marketing company that specializes in law firm marketing, and believe me there are a ton of them. Legal SEO, is a really profitable niche of SEO to specialize. I would specialize in it, but I would rather focus on restaurant or travel SEO.
I have been making calls, and I have discovered that many of these types of marketing companies have a huge portfolio of legal sites that they can use for link building.
Online Legal Directory Stats
Domain Age – 9 yrs and 5 months at this writing
Backlinks -231 ..not many, and the links are not very diverse..needs a lot of work.
The site needs a lot of development..actually I would recommend scrapping it and starting over.
I did install a legal directory blog on it, but I only did one post, and never got to develop it.
It currently is a paid directory that only accepts very few listings. It actually spammed by the bots very frequently..at least I get notifications about 10 times a day that a Russian website has been submitted..too bad they are not a paying legal company.
Anyway, if you are from an SEO company that would like to increase your portfolio of legal sites, and would like to make an offer on OnlineLegaldirectory.com, please let me know.
This long over due Facebook Optimization blog post focuses on some apps and more that I use on Facebook or have recommended others use. Today, more and more businesses are using Fan pages, so this is a huge opportunity for Social Media Consultants.
I have also heard that it is possible for fan pages to like other fan pages…here is the link to the Facebook App that allows Fan pages to like other Fan pages thereby aligning brands.
Another great app that I have used is selective tweets on #FB ..this is great so that you can update your Facebook profile or Fan page by placing #fb at the end of Tweets that you want to include in your updates. This will greatly reduce the noise on your Facebook page, and please all your fans.
Facebook landing pages – for brands and anyone who wants to create a landing page on their Facebook profile, be sure to check out this Problogger post.
facebook badges – be sure to include Facebook badges all over your site..hmm..I have to do this too..As a Social Media Consultant, Social Media clients to place not only Facebook badges, but Twitter, Youtube and LinkedIn badges also, if their potential customers are playing on those SM sites that is.
Use the networked blogs on Facebook to update both fan and personal pages automatically when you publish a blog post.
Lastly, limit your Facebook activity. What I mean by this is don’t feed too much info to your Facebook Fans. Very few people want to see all of your Tweets and other updates, so limit the number of daily updates you do on your fan page. Focus on quality not quantity.
This is just a small list of tips for optimizing your Facebook Fan pages. If you feel so inclined, fan Baldydog on Facebook.
If you are actively involved in social media for your business, you know that it is important to constantly seek out new ways to engage your followers. Simply posting information about your company is not enough. You need to engage users in a dialogue that will get them talking to you and talking about your company.
One way to do this is to host an event such as a Twitter party, Twitter chat or ‘tweet up.’ All three are fun, relatively low-cost ways for companies to reach out to followers and get them actively participating in topics related to your company. Here are descriptions of each type of event and ways you can apply them to your social media marketing plan.
What are Twitter Parties?
Twitter parties are events that are held entirely on Twitter. A company or organization will pick a specific date, time and hashtag for the party that users must include in each of their tweets in order for their responses to be ‘seen’ in the party. A company hosting the event will pick a specific theme for the party, which usually includes topics and discussions related to the company’s products and services (for example: a company that sells butter might have a Halloween Twitter party that includes discussions about baking Halloween party foods with recipe ideas that include butter). There are usually product giveaways during the party and an expert or company representative on hand to answer questions pertaining to the party theme. A Twitter party is not about a hard sell; rather the brand takes a back seat to the topic and discussion at hand. However, the brand’s presence is felt by providing users with the opportunity to ask questions about the topic from an expert, exchange ideas and opinions about the topic, possibly win a prize from the sponsor or maybe take part in a special offer or call to action provided by the sponsor during the party. Twitter parties fun events that get people excited about. As a result, attendees are likely to mention or tweet about the event both before, during and after the party, genearating an increase in followers and interest in the company sponsoring the event. For more information about planning and hosting a Twitter party, check out Twitter party experts TweeParties.
What are Twitter Chats?
Twitter chats are similar to Twitter parties in that they have a specific topic to discuss, they are about an hour or two in length and use a hashtag to help users follow the chat. What makes them different from parties is that while a company might organize or sponsor the party, the purpose of the chat is to discuss and share ideas about a certain topic—not to promote a business or organization. Also, while a Twitter party might be a one-time event, Twitter chats are usually held on a regular basis—either weekly or monthly—to develop a following of Twitter users who might be interested in regularly discussing the tiopic. Twitter chats can be held for any topic: travel, marketing, small business tips, knitting, cooking, parenting teens—you name it! It’s a great way for people who have a shared interest in a topic to come together, share ideas and network. But remember: Twitter chats are all about the discussion, not about promotion. Even if a company organizes a chat, it’s usually not the place to promote your products and services.
What are Tweet Ups?
Tweet ups are events that are not held online but rather in person. It’s a gathering of Twitter users at a specific location: your company, a restaurant or any venue where people can come together and meet face-to-face. Usually Tweet ups are very social in nature and include ample time for users to mingle and chat, beverages and snacks, maybe even giveaways or ‘door prizes.’ Often Tweet ups have a speaker on a specific topic that makes the event educational and informative as well. They’re a great way to get your users through your door and reward them with a fun, informative, free experience. Tweet ups work well for companies or organizations who have a number of followers who live or work in the same area. You can consider it an ‘open house’ of sorts for Twitter users. Tweeting about the event to your followers and enticing them to come for fun, food and freebies might also encourage your followers to spread the word to their friends through tweets and retweets. You can even set up a registration page using online services such as Eventbrite or Twtvite to give you an idea of how many people to expect. But always take that number and add to it, to allow for last minute arrivals who saw a tweet minutes before and happened to be in your neighborhood.
The above post was written by Erin Boudreau
Founder of TweeParties, Inc.
Every Thursday at 3:20pm I get a Google Alert that at 330pm EST, I will be participating in an online Tweetup called Travelers Night In (#TNI Twitter hashtag). I first found out about the Tweetup when I noticed #TNI appearing in the Alltravelsites Twitter stream. I then asked one of the people what the Hashtag #TNI stands for, and I was sent to the Travelers Night In page and told to follow it on Tweetgrid.com, which is a cool site that allows you to follow numerous Twitter streams and post to your own stream to connect to the Twitter conversation.
TNI is from 330pm to 5pm and it consists of 10 questions about some area of travel, this upcoming week for example is on the topic of “Festivals”.
Healthy Travel from ChooseCherries
Several weeks ago, when I participated in the Healthy Travel TNI, which was sponsored by Choosecherries, I actually won a Choosecherries travel pack. One lucky TNI participant won the grand prize which included a cherry iPod. Good thing I didn’t win that, or it would have made three iPods I have won and don’t use. But anyway, I would like to thank ChooseCherries for the cherry travel pack..I loved eating the dried cherries on my oatmeal in the morning..yum..
ChooseCherries.com does not sell or represent any one cherry company, so I guess you could call them a Cherry Coalition. Their site has lots of great info about cherries, including many cherry recipes and cherry health and nutrition information. You can also follow them on Twitter and Facebook.
If you did not know, I am a big fan of the cherry as a fruit. I also love lots of different cherry candy..see the Cherry Mash Needs SEO blog post..Thinking about cherries reminds me of one of my favorite dishes at a local restaurant, the Landis Store Hotel, Duck with Cherry Sauce…oh, I need to stop thinking about food.
Who Should participate in #TNI?
Back to TNI, now who should participate in TNI? If you have a travel interest that is personal or professional, you may want to consider following and participating in TNI. Who already participates in TNI?
Travel bloggers
Travel agents
Travel enthusiasts
Travel photographers
So if you find yourself being o of these four types of travelers, or if you find yourself being a person that would like to network with these types of travelers, why not tune in on Thursday and give TNI a try?
If you are interested in Sponsoring TNI like ChooseCherries.com did, you can visit ZipSetgo below for more info.
Examine TNI
TNI and other similar Twitter Chats have the potential to be awesome marketing events. Thinking about your own little niche, be it automotive, financial, home improvement or what have you. Do you think you could use a Tweetup like this to drive business to your site or your physical location?
TNI Resources
ZipSetGo TNI Post -These wonderful ladies are responsible for starting and maintaining TNI. I am sure if you have questions about starting a Tweetup or questions about sponsoring TNI, this is the place to go.
A number of years ago, when I was considering getting (sorry for cursing) a job, I had an interview at Yellowbook.com for an account specialist position. The position was primarily for a PPC (Pay per Click) account manager, which I have a bit of experience doing, having first experienced the activities involved with a PPC campaign about 7 years ago and I believe the entire campaign was run on what was known as Overture, which became part of the Yahoo empire. The campaign was for Bicycle Touring with Baldydog, a bicycle touring equipment company(the original Baldydog), that did not do well at all, and actually wasted a ton of money.
Anyway, back to the authority known as Yellow Book.
Yellow book advertising is a method of advertising that many businesses may decide is an appropriate method of spending their valuable advertising dollars.
From the humble beginnings in Long Island, Yellow Book has grown to be a huge advertising medium. I bet most people have let their fingers do the walking on more than one occasion. Currently though, the old Yellow Pages has seen a serious decline, and is struggling to stay a float. However, it is still a preferred advertising medium to many of the mom and pops to name a few. I am not going to tell you that it is dieing, and the new Yellow Pages is the smartphone..I am sure you new that.
Possible Ways to Capitalize on Yellow Book
What I am going to give you are four ideas for taking advantage of the declining authority of Yellow Book.
Become a Yellow Book certified SEO Contractor?
Make an SEO training program, and get Yellowbook to market it to their huge customer base.
Link Build and Rank for Yellow Book Keywords such as:
yellow book
Yellow Book Advertising
Yellow Book Advertiser
Yellow Book Advertising rates
Yellowpages
Yellowpages.com
Yellowpages.cm
yellowpages.cmo
yellowpages
yellowpage
the Yellow Pages
yellowpages map
YP.com map
yellow pages maps
etc…
Lastly, go after Yellowpages.com advertising customers who were serviced badly by the old world advertising authority. (there are a lot of them). I have more than a few clients that previously were using Yellowpages.com or Superpages.com, which did provide a website and were being charged on a PPC basis. Several of my clients that previously were with Yp.com, said they had signed an iron clad contract which meant being charged hundreds of dollars a month for clicks that YP said they had received..but the calls did not come in at all and the ROI(return on investment) was just not there. On the positive, I have noticed that the sites that my clients were given, were optimized well for local search, but usually the on-page optimization is where the SEO ends with YP sites.
Why Yellowpages Advertising is so Bad
First, I did say that a few of my clients did sign up for and get an actual website. However, the sites were very basic, and were optimized for only their local geographic regions. So showing up in the SERPs for other geographic regions without any further SEO is out of the question.
Secondly, my clients were being charged for clicks, which meant when ever a person searched for say “Exton Home Cleaner“, and the resulting search brought up a Superpages listing, when the searcher clicked on the link, and visited the Superpages page and then hopefully clicked on my clients link, he was charged for a click…whether he got any business or not.
Thirdly, Yellowpages or any of their affiliated sites do not make money if the clients site ranks, only if the YP pages does. So they have no incentive to properly SEO the clients sites.
What Can YellowPages do to Turn It Around
First, they can quit ripping people off for unsubstantiated PPC advertising, by changing their monetization strategies. They already have the ability to build websites, so why not focus on creating a advertising experience that does not take advantage of the small business owner who is powerless to do anything after they have signed a seemingly iron clad contract after being sweet talked by a Yellowpages Advertising sales person who promises the world but delivers little.
Are You a Prior YellowPages Advertiser?
If you are a small business owner who is tired of paying for Yellowpages advertising, and would like to see a higher ROI on their advertising dollars, please leave a comment or stop by Baldydog.com and feel free to contact us for a quote that will enable you to see a significantly higher ROI than Yellowpages advertising.
Do you have a Yellow Book, Yellowpages, Superpages or other type of experience you can share with us?
MY Suggestions for YellowPages
I as most people who grew up before the Internet, have fond memories of using the Yellowpages for a variety of tasks. Of the day when every home had at least one and it was openned on a daily basis. The Yellowpages at that time was a resource for not only businesses, but government info, zip code info, school info, coupons, and more.
If I were yellow pages, I would cease the practice of making money by charging for phantom clicks. Give their huge number of clients more than they bargained. Give them an ROI that makes Google Adsense pail in comparison.
If I were in charge at Yellowpages, I would do everything to insure that I stayed the advertising authority that YellowPages once was. I make sure that the brand had a positive image rather than an image of an advertising dinosaur.
As a wise man said, if you want to make a lot of money, find a way to help a lot of people. Yellow pages has the ability to make a lot of money for generations to come, by helping a lot of businesses to succeed.
Finally, I would like to offer my help to Yellowpages to improve their brand reputation that it was in the past.
won a Choosecherries travel pack. One lucky TNI participant won the grand prize which included a cherry iPod. Good thing I didn’t win that, or it would have made three iPods I have won and don’t use. But anyway, I would like to thank ChooseCherries for the cherry travel pack..I loved eating the dried cherries on my oatmeal in the morning..yum..
about 7 years ago and I believe the entire campaign was run on what was known as Overture, which became part of the Yahoo empire. The campaign was for Bicycle Touring with Baldydog, a bicycle touring equipment company(the original Baldydog), that did not do well at all, and actually wasted a ton of money.
My StumbleUpon Page
