David A. West

Calgary Search Engine Optimization Consulting Firm Partners with MSP University

David West — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 15:45:39 +0000

News: 26 Jul 2010 05:53 AM PDT

Ulistic and MSP University announce Strategic Partnership

IT VAR and Managed Services Providers win as two marketing leaders join forces to offer a comprehensive, effective online marketing solution to the channel
Ulistic, a leading Internet consulting firm based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada and an organization focused on delivering valuable online marketing services and education within the IT VAR and Managed Services Community, today announced their strategic partnership with MSP University. MSP University is the largest consultancy and online resource dedicated to business transformation and improvement strategies for information technology (IT) professionals and managed services providers globally.

Read the full press release here.
Ulistic Inc., Calgary Search Engine Optimization & Social Media Advice.
MSP University, for Managed Service Providers.

________________________________

Ulistic focuses on serving the needs of Business, REALTORS, and Information Technology firms across Canada and United States. Helping your business understand, deploy and leverage social media, search engine optimization and online communications to generate business opportunities and make an impact inside your community and industry.

My business partner Stuart and I are business professionals first. We understand what it takes to run a successful small business.

I invite you to reach out to me personally at 403.775.2205 or email dawest@ulistic.com.

Angel Rodriguez, Frito Lay VP joins Ulistic’s Small Business Podcast

David West — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 13:57:17 +0000

Tune in live on July 22nd for a very special Ulistic Small Business Podcast with Angel Rodriguez, Frito Lay VP and Leadership speaker.

Join Ulistic’s team along with Frito Lay VP Angel Rodriguez as we discuss Leadership in today’s global economy. Angel recently decided that speaking on Leadership as part of his career at Frito Lay is absolutely required in our world today. Having the right leadership in place for the smallest businesses right through to the largest is crucial to success.

Tune into Angel Rodriguez and the team from Ulistic for a 30 minute discussion on business leadership.

Webcast starts at 11 AM Eastern/8 AM Pacific on July 22, 2010.

If you miss it live, you can always download it or tune in anytime.

Click here and join the “Leadership with Angel Rodriguez” webcast.

Visit Angel Rodriguez‘s blog today.

________________________________

My business partner Stuart and I are business professionals first. We understand what it takes to run a successful small business.

I invite you to reach out to me personally at 403.775.2205 or email dawest@ulistic.com.

Webinar: Leverage Facebook Marketing

David West — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 20:18:43 +0000

How can your small business leverage Facebook?

Looking for the secret recipe on marketing your business on Facebook?

What special tricks can you learn about one of the Internet’s most popular network platforms?

Do you have a Facebook Marketing Strategy?

Facebook is here to stay. Just look at the cover of Canadian Business on July 19 for proof. Is your business ready for the Facebook generation?

More and More businesses are now looking at how they can market through Facebook, create strong networks, build loyal followings and increase sales in their business. Now is the time for your Canadian Small Business to develop a series of Facebook Marketing Strategies that work.

Join Ulistic for a no cost Webinar on Facebook Marketing on July 5, 2010 at Noon Eastern Time/9 AM Pacific.

Stuart Crawford is a Calgary Social Media Coach and works with a number of leading and progressive small businesses across North America. During this 60 minute webinar Stuart will share exciting tips and tricks on how you can market your business with Facebook without breaking the rules. Stuart will share core strategies on connecting with the right folks who will help you build your brand, product or service in and out of the Facebook world. Understand how you can leverage the power of other people’s networks and build a loyal following.

________________________________

My business partner Stuart and I are business professionals first. We understand what it takes to run a successful small business.

I invite you to reach out to me personally at 403.775.2205 or email dawest@ulistic.com.

Have You Ever Said Something You Want to Take Back?

David West — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 15:24:44 +0000

The point of email is to communicate. Years ago, when I felt like I was one of 4 people in Canada with an email account, I read a bit on email ettiquette. One of the points always stuck with me, “One day you will send an email that you will regret.” I have indeed.

Have you ever sent an email message that you regret? Big corporate servers sometime allow users to recall their sent email, if it is sent to a co-worker. Traditionally though, when you fire off that heated response to politically charged cult leader (he who’s name we shall not speak is what we call him)… your mail is gone forever and you can’t take it back.

The ability to get delivery and read reciepts is also a function that is missing in many modern email clients and web based email solutions such as gmail.

Enter the solutions: PointofMail

PointofMail is a great web service that allows you to send email by appening .poinofmail.com to the email recipients address. The email goes through the PointofMail server and then spins off to the intended recipient. You can setup your account to simply track delivery, opens and forwarded email. If you wish though, you can kick it up a notch and send your mail so that it can self destruct after a pre-determined period of time or so that you can, at will, recall the message.

In order to facilitate instant self destructing email or email that you can litterally yank out of the other persons inbox, PointofMail actually converts the email into an image and send the image to the final recipient. When you recall a message, PointofMail simply deletes the image off of their secure server. Should the person look at the message after it is recalled, you can have a polite little note show up… “sorry, I recalled my note because it was time sensitive, please call me …”

One nice feature is the ability to track attachments, such as how many times an attachment is read. You can also track your email message as it is being forwarded. In terms of sending sales proposals or other sensitive documents, you can learn quite a bit about the interest in your message by the frequency that it is opened, and forwarded.

Incidentally, when you send through PointofMail, you dont’ have to recall the message completely. You can simply edit the message. Change the message completely if you wish and it simply updates in the recipients email box!

If you send a document that is highly confidential and you want to, you can send it with a prompt to automatically delete itself if the first recipient tries to forward it to another person. You can even password protect these highly sensitive messages with PointoMail!

PointofMail.com has plans starting as low as $29.99 per year. Check it out here…

________________________________

My business partner Stuart and I are business professionals first. We understand what it takes to run a successful small business.

I invite you to reach out to me personally at 403.775.2205 or email dawest@ulistic.com.

3 Reasons Your Search Engine Optimization Plan Isn’t Working the Way You Thought it Would

David West — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 22:45:51 +0000

Among online marketers, few things are as misunderstood as search engine optimization. The premise is simple enough: get your site to one of the top rankings for important keywords on Google, Yahoo, or Bing, and new customers will flood in through the virtual front door. The reality, however, is that it’s usually a whole lot harder than that.

Here are three reasons your search engine optimization plans might not be working out the way they were supposed to:

You aren’t being patient enough. There’s no way around this one – SEO takes some time. It’s usually 3 to 6 months before most marketers will even see their site show up in the first couple of pages of search results, and depending on how competitive your industry is, it could be twice as long before you make it to one of the top spots. Just because you aren’t getting a lot of hits yet doesn’t mean your search engine plan isn’t working; be patient, do the right things, and it will.

You are emphasizing the wrong keywords or phrases. One of the great ironies of SEO is that the money isn’t always where we think it is. In other words, even though we think a certain word or phrase is going to be profitable, it might turn out that the best customers are searching for different variations – or something completely different. All you can do, as a marketer, is make an informed guess and then keep adjusting your campaigns as you go along. Eventually, you’ll find the most profitable terms to target.

Your landing pages aren’t doing the trick. Hits mean nothing if they aren’t turning into sales. As important as your search engine optimization content is, it’s just as critical that you have strong sales elements on your landing pages. Make sure to tweak and test different versions so that your buying ratios are improving over time.

The real goal of SEO is never to gather traffic, but to increase sales.

________________________________

My business partner Stuart and I are business professionals first. We understand what it takes to run a successful small business.

I invite you to reach out to me personally at 403.775.2205 or email dawest@ulistic.com.

Job Seeker Wins First Page Google Result

David West — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 23:10:00 +0000

Her resume was posted on a website and was indexed by Google …exposing it all.

Have you ever submitted a resume’ or other personal information to a company only to have it show up on the Internet, in it’s entirety, on Google search results?

That’s what happened recently to a job seeker in Calgary. She passed her resume onto a large professional association in hopes that it may be used to place a “job seeker” ad at the website. Little did she know that they were going to upload the resume’ to their website and make it public. The association may not have even meant to expose the document. May website owners don’t realize that even documents uploaded into a “client only” area can in some cases be indexed by search engines.

Here is what the client had to say,

“Thanks for your assistance earlier. As I mentioned, xxxxxx provides a wonderful service involving allowing job seekers to submit their resumes for posting to the xxxxxx website. A few months ago, I submitted my resume to xxxxxxx. Recently I decided to use the Google search engine to do a search on myself. I was curious about what the public will be able to retrieve when they enter
“xxx_my_name_xxx Calgary” into a search engine. Unfortunately, as a result of submitting my resume to the xxxxxx website anyone who enters “xxxxxxx” into a search engine can now retrieve my entire resume.

In the past I have submitted my resume to job search sites (for example, like Monster and Workopolis) and it doesn’t make my resume available for the the entire world to see if they enter my name into a search engine. “

The job seeker spoke to the professional association to remove the resume from their website and received a response back that it is removed. When I investigated, the document is still online and still shows up in Google search engine results. While the website owner may very well have removed links referencing the document, the physical PDF file still remains on the server. This roots itself in “out of site, out of mind”, but on a webserver, once a document is indexed by a search engine the spiders will come back and check on it. As long as the document resides on the public server, it will not drop out of the index.

While many people fight to have their website and documents surface on first page of Google, this is one case where the call to Ulistic was to help get it off of Google. The calls for ‘reverse SEO‘ or reputation management are increasing. Unheard of three years ago, reputation management is a phrase that we are all sadly going to have to learn.

To the credit of the professional association, it is clear that they are offering to make submitted resume’s available on the website for public viewing. It was not clear to this particular website visitor though and she did not realize that the PDF file she submitted would win her a first page placement on Google.

Ulistic Inc. is a Calgary Internet Consultancy where our team of expert internet consultants deal with this type of issue daily. Do you need and internet consultant on your team?

________________________________

My business partner Stuart and I are business professionals first. We understand what it takes to run a successful small business.

I invite you to reach out to me personally at 403.775.2205 or email dawest@ulistic.com.

YouTube Introduces Video Editor

David West — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 02:18:08 +0000

While still in it’s infancy, YouTube has introduced a video editor (available through labs) or at this address.

It is a rather simple interface that allows you to clip the front and end of any of the videos in your account and then join to other portions of your own video archive. A second track allows you to add a sound track from a list of available royalty free selections.

As with all Google products it is likely to be expanded upon in the near future. The addition of transitions and filters would be welcomed. As it stands today it is still rather clunky, but as with most Google initiatives I hold hope for it. I would be disappointing if I had to buy it, it it’s current state, but as is usually the case with Google’s beta offerings it is without a fee and of course no obligation to use it.

Watch for other features to roll out soon too; such as the ability to synchronize slide shows with your uploaded video.

If you have a YouTube channel, have a peek. (click the image to enlarge it)

http://www.youtube.com/editor

Cheers

David A. West

Twitter Me This: Unlocking the Door to Tweet Marketing

David West — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 22:04:19 +0000

Amid the vast range of online marketing tools available today, Twitter is a bit unique. That’s because unlike Facebook, it doesn’t give you the option of outright advertising; neither is it restricted solely to business contacts, like LinkedIn, nor does it allow for the depth of expression that a personal or company blog would. It’s simply a place to go and share your deepest – or maybe quickest – thoughts and impressions with the world. But can you really help sell anything in 140 characters or less?

As it turns out, yes you can.

Lots of companies are turning Twitter into a valuable part of their overall Internet promotional strategy. The key to making their campaigns work is to treat the site like the unique forum it is, rather than trying to use the same tactics you would on different platforms.

Here are three tips to help you get the most out of Twitter marketing:

Be fun. The quick-hit nature of tweets means that your potential customers are going to have the attention spans of small insects; for that reason, your tweets are going to have to be at least a little bit informative or entertaining to attract readers.

Start conversations, not pitches. Twitter, like all social media sites, is a bad place to speak at people. Engage potential customers in questions and conversations – at least a few of which that weren’t started by you – rather than going straight into your marketing message.

Think stealth. When you do tweet an offer you want potential customers to follow up on, wrap it in a softer message, like a note about industry trends or link to an informative article. Otherwise, all the trust and goodwill you’ve built up to be lost in an instant.

Googler Maile Ohye Delivers Keyword Rich Keynote

David West — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 15:54:31 +0000

Maile Ohye, of Google’s Webmaster Central team, delivered the keynote discussion this morning at the Search Engine Strategies conference in Toronto. She gave a room full of webmasters, search engine practitioners and website owners the scoop… “right from the horses mouth”, as the moderator mentioned. Although horse is not a term that describes this vibrant Googler that has 5 years in the Googleplex. Ohye is based out of Maintain View California with the webmaster central team.

Ohye gave some insights into the recent algorithm changes at Google as well as some discussions about the new infrastructure that Google rolled out nicknamed caffeine. The update has repositioned many sites on the serp’s, some higher and some lower. If there was any one message to take away from this discussion it is that content is still key.

Google continues it efforts to deliver nothing but the most relevant documents to searchers. Ohye continuously referred to web sites pages as documents. She never once said great looking websites, she didn’t say the best designed websites – it is clear that the written word on the web is what is king. Using the term document, in my mind, really helps to separate the written word from the design. This again validates the Ulistic emphasis on a balanced approach to design, writing and conversion objectives.

Inbound links to your website are still an important part of Googles several hundred triggers. Links should become a by-product of doing good business online. Build a unique and relevant website with excellent information and links will then come naturally. The role of mechanized link building was clearly frowned upon by this Googler. The point was that a few quality links are better than a high number of poor quality links.

Ohye clearly had a view on the use of landing pages to focus keyword attention to your niche product. Signs of exacerbation followed a question from the floor around landing pages followed by Ohye and the moderator reminiscing about similar discussions at earlier sessions. Google’s commitment to returning the most accurate search results and to improve user experience really does make, sometimes spammy over optimized, landing pages a contradiction to their goals. Ohye and the moderator had clearly anticipated this question.

There were a number of other excellent points made during this mornings SES keynote, most deserving their own future post.

Best regards,

David West
Calgary based SEO

Improve User Experience & Get More Clients

David West — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 20:31:21 +0000

Bryan Eisenberg, who recently lost ½ his body weight, is not losing anything online.

Improve user experience and get higher conversion goals or advertise for more traffic? All major brands focus on constant improvement. Eisenberg presented at the SES Toronto this morning, and I had the pleasure of sitting in on his session. Eisneberg’s presentation “21 Secrets to Top Converting Websites” was excellent. It was also preceded by a warning that the content is confidential, so I’ll have to be sparse about the actual secrets that he disclosed and simply praise him for the value that the attendees received from his lecture.

A few points that I would like to share… some of my thoughts anyways;

Conversion rate is a measure of your ability to persuade visitors to take the action you want them to take. As was discussed this afternoon, understanding your real-world sales process can contribute to your websites ability to convert visitors to potential sales. If your websites conversion goals are low, you may want to take a step back and revisit your website. Revisit the copy on the site and then revisit the design. Finally, without considering your calls to action and sales process, your site may still fail. At Ulistic, a Calgary based internet consultancy, we preach balance. Balance design, written content and your calls to action. Only balanced websites can achieve their goals.

One of the questions posed during this session, “should a website owner Improve user experience and get higher conversion goals or advertise for more traffic?”

The point being that without constant review of usability, written content and conversion goals a website owner may well consider saving their money. A website that does not convert visitors to clients is just another pretty picture.

Cheers

David West

SES Toronto is Underway – Here’s the Plan

David West — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 12:47:47 +0000

Stuart Crawford & I are on the ground and registered at the Toronto Search Engine Strategies conference.

Stuart has selected a series of alternate speakers sessions to participate in. It was relatively easy for us to choose the sessions that peeked our general interests. One of the reasons that Stuart and I are excellent business partners is our evolving core areas of practice. My focus has always been technical. Specifically around website layout, conversion and search optimization. Stuart has successfully built interest in several businesses, including Ulistic, by leveraging both face to face as well as online social opportunities.

There is no doubt that the roads are crossing between Social and Search and I am looking forward to exploring this over the next two days at the Toronto SES conference.

Here is the plan for today;

The keynote speaker today is Mr. Perter Morville, President, Semantic Studios.

10:15 – 11a the conference floor is open.

11a – 12p – the first session that I will attend, “21 Secrets of Top-Converting Websites”

1p – 2p – Information Architecture, Site Performance Tuning, & SEO

3:45 – 5p – Bringing SEO In-House: The Pros & Cons

Off to Toronto for #SESTO – Search Engine Strategies Toronto

David West — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 15:32:35 +0000

Stuart, already in Toronto, and I will be attending the Search Engine Strategies conference June 10th and 11th. We have been invited to participate wearing our “press” passes and will be blogging through the event. We both consider this an honour and look forward to learning from our peers and sharing our thoughts with you as the Conference proceeds.

The SES Toronto event is in it’s 7th season. The longevity of this seminar is a reflection of the importance of search and how it has impacted business owners. Some industries have indeed become reliant on being found online and as competition has heated up over the past decade, so have the skill levels of search optimization practitioners. Being able to attend learning events like SES is one of the many keys that separates professionals from people who switch from selling “Franchised Workout Bootcamps” one day to being your Internet Marketing Consultant the next.

I am excited to be heading out to the airport in a short while to shoot off to the big city of Toronto. Many of you may not know, but I lived and worked in Toronto for two years after high school.

Stay tuned as Search Engine Strategies 2010 Conference & Expo is about to begin. See you there!

David A. West

The Simple Things in Life Are Free

David West — Sat, 29 May 2010 16:10:26 +0000

Very often the simple things are the ones that work too. If you need to collaborate, keep track of things to do or manage projects then here are some web-based apps that are free or nearly free that you should have a look at.

Have you heard of Paste Interactive? These folks are doing some pretty nice work in the world of Software as a Service (Saas). They have produced several applications that are free for you to use (or nearly free). I found these guys several months ago and recently received an invitation to the beta of their newest app called “Paprika”

Paste’s primary apps include Jumpchart, Staction and now Paprika.

Jumpchart is an app that allows web designers to mock-up website content into an interactive interface that allows navigation and work flow, just like a real website. Clients and contributors can then access the moch-up and comment. Reasonable fees are applied as your account grows.

Staction is Paste’s response to group collaboration. Taking all that works from the world of Social Media sites like Twitter, tagging and keywords Staction positions itself to simplify your groups collaboration. Reasonable fees are applied as your account grows.

Paprika uses a simple text based system to keep track of all your tags, dates, and todos fast, and easy. While only in beta, I have to admit, I really like Paprika! After creating a “wiki” type page for a project or task list, you can easily navigate and find items. You can share each page (or project) with collaborators via a private web address. Paprika is free for now and is currently by invite only. I have a few invites in my inbox if you want to try it, comment below.

While the above apps are cool and clearly going to get traction, if not already, I really like this one little “subordinated” application. I say it is subordinate because the little link is tucked way down on the page of apps. http://pleasenotify.me/ Please Notify Me is a tiny little app, that really is quite brilliant. Brilliant because we all need it and because it’s just so darn simple.

Please Notify Me is a little form, no membership account required, where you simply send actionable items to anyone you wish. They will be notified of the actionable item by email. Hear’s the easter egg… they will be reminded daily and so will you! They will continue to receive reminders daily until they mark the item as completed. Really, who doesn’t need this? http://pleasenotify.me/

Visit the folks over at Paste and check them out. I subscribed to their blog in hopes to be the first to learn about the next innovations coming out of Paste!

Visit Paste today and see what they are up to – Paste Interactive

David West

What’s Cool In the World of the Web Today?

David West — Fri, 21 May 2010 14:09:04 +0000

Google’s annual developer conference is well underway and there are a number of predictions and announcements being made. These advancements in both Google product offerings as well as technology announcements.

Technology announcements / predictions such as the general adoption of HTML 5 over the coming months. HTML 5 is being developed as the new standard and will bring a ton of functionality to web developers including the ease to embed video in h264 format and the ability to build rich web applications that have access to the local PC’s storage and resources such as cameras. I am going to refrain from making bold predictions about HTML 5′s impact on the internet, but it seems that it is going to propel the move to the cloud faster than ever before.

Google Wave has dropped the need to be “invited” to join wave. This will hopefully mean greater adoption by users. Wave is reported to also be “much faster” to use now. Google has also added permission management and an extension gallery to wave. I haven’t seen the ability to use wave as a primary email tool yet though. When Wave can pull my regular email from non-wave users, then it may be more widely adopted. Until then, it’s rather a closed community.

One of the other product developments that Googlers are talking about is “Google Storage for Developers”. This is a cloud based service build on Google infrastructure that will give developers access to low cost cloud based storage space. It sounds very similar to Amazon Simple Storage 3, a widely adopted cloud based storage solutions for developers. These services tend to be exactly what they are sold as… “for developers” to develop applications and services that leverage the low cost cloud based storage. Twitter, for example, uses Amazon Simple Storage to host portions of the Twitter application. While cloud based storage solutions like these are not exactly consumer products, they become the foundation of some fairly powerful potential in terms of development of cloud based services that you may very well already be using.

Cheers,

David West

WordPress Blog Training Comes to Calgary

David West — Thu, 20 May 2010 19:54:26 +0000

Our team over at Ulistic.com are launching our newest Workshop in a series of Internet Marketing related programs.

Join Stuart and I on June 23rd at the Blackfoot Inn where we will not only give you a powerfully tuned installation of WordPress, we are going to show you how to use it. But not just how to blog… how to make you blog a magnet for natural search traffic. Once you understand the power of the blog in terms of gaining it’s own following, we’ll teach you how to focus that attention to your marketing website.

Blogging for Business is June 23rd, 2010
8:30 am to 4:30 pm – Blackfoot Inn, SE Calgary, Alberta

Learn in a small group envirionment, seating is limited - Register today.

Did you know that blogs naturally attract visitors and that they almost do their own search engine optimization?

Learn about blogs and the applications that make them run. Learn why blogs are so effective at generation of targeted traffic. Learn how to cross optimize your blog and your marketing website to make the perform like a lead generating machine. Understand what syndication is and why it works…. go her to learn more about this Blogging Workshop in Calgary

Cheers,

David A. West

Will Flash Ever Work on the iPad?

David West — Sun, 16 May 2010 02:43:44 +0000

The iPod, iPhone and the new iPad all have the Safari browser installed. The Safari browser on these mobile devices do not support Flash. Apple will likely be investigated under U.S. Anti-Trust laws. Their policy to not allow Flash is backwards and contradicts what the users of their devices want. Well, that is what I used to think, before reading Apples letter on their website that has put this into a different light.

The founders of Adobe recently posted a letter, and stated that Apples approach in this case is opposite their own approach to openness.

“We believe that Apple, by taking the opposite approach, has taken a step that could undermine this next chapter of the web — the chapter in which mobile devices outnumber computers, any individual can be a publisher, and content is accessed anywhere and at any time.” http://www.adobe.com/choice/openmarkets.html

In Apples response to Adobe, they write a compelling argument as to why flash has not been adopted on mobile devices. They go on and state that;

“Even if iPhones, iPods and iPads ran Flash, it would not solve the problem that most Flash websites need to be rewritten to support touch-based devices.” http://www.apple.com/hotnews/thoughts-on-flash/

That statement alone supports my long time argument that websites developed in Flash have a higher cost of ownership to the website owner.

I really did think that Apple was simply stonewalling… putting off the ‘inevitable’ inclusion of flash on mobile devices. I did believe that they are simply protecting the iStore by not allowing flash devlopers to create web-apps for the mobile devices. After reading Apples letter regarding flash, I have changed my mind.

The Ulistic SEO Canadian Tour Launches May 18th, 2010

David West — Wed, 05 May 2010 14:21:41 +0000

Come and join Ulistic starting on May 18 for a Canadian tour hitting three cities in 3 weeks. Ulistic will be sharing the art of Search Engine Optimization with small business in Calgary, Toronto and Niagara Falls.

Interested in learning how to manage your own search engine optimization?

Want to learn how social media can aid in SEO?

Five years ago, most website owners didn’t even know what Search Engine Optimization or SEO meant. Today a growing number of people understand the importance of showing up in Google search results pages… but are at the will of their “web people” to get them there. Search Engine Optimization is a skill that can be learned. There is no secret sauce or mystical club, to join, in order to have a website perform on search engine results pages.
Book now.

Calgary, May 18th, 2010 – Calgary Search Engine Optimization Workshop
Toronto, June 9, 2010 – Toronto Search Engine Optimization Workshop
Niagara Falls, June 12, 2010 – Niagara Falls Search Engine Optimization Workshop

Invest a day and take away an abundance of information who can put to work in your business immediately.

There are many experts telling you that your business needs to be on Facebook or on Twitter, we question the why? Is this important? Is this where your customers are? Many different types of business, many different types of plans. What makes sense to you and your business is what many forget to think about.

About Ulistic

Ulistic is an Internet Consultancy that has a focus on educating clients. We take business owners and managers from being people that have websites to people that own their website. Our core services revolve around a great understanding of Search Engine Optimization combined with the power of Social Media Consulting.

Live Blog – LinkedIn for Business Introduction

David West — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 02:24:36 +0000

Join me here at 8:45 for a live blog – Stuart Crawford will be starting the Linkedin for business seminar in Calgary. I will live blog the first half hour or so of the seminar.

LinkedIn for Business

The ABC’s of Google Search

David West — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 18:34:50 +0000

Join Stuart Crawford and David West from Ulistic, leading Calgary SEO Professionals for this very special mentoring breakfast at the Calgary Chamber of Commerce in the heart of downtown Calgary. There will be plenty of free parking at the IMPARK lot across from the new Bow Tower (North) and James Short Parkade (East). We have free parking until 9:30 AM secured for this special Calgary business networking and mentoring event.

During this mentoring breakfast, the team from Ulistic will share with you how to search effectively on Google plus other search engines. Maximize your search results and the time you spend looking for information online. There are many secrets to getting the information you need online, and how to go about searching for it. During this breakfast, you will learn the tips and tricks from the some of the best in the business.

Your registration fee includes a great breakfast from the Calgary Chamber of Commerce.
Come out and meet other business professionals in Calgary and learn a couple of new tricks to enhance your online searching.

Event starts at 7:30 and runs to 9 AM.

Before I am Forced to Commit Social Suicide…

David West — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 15:31:14 +0000

I am going to carefully pick my battles. That’s why signing up for Naymz isn’t in my immediate plans.

There is a lot of “buzz” out there about social media marketing. Even in the past quarter we see more “social” sites popping up, Naymz and Google Buzz to name a couple. It’s all so really cool, isn’t it? Frankly, it is a bit overwhelming.

It has always been important, but more so today, that as a business owner or manager you not lose focus on your core products and services. If Social Media is not one of your core money makers, then I would suggest to you that it not become one of your core “jobs”.

Don’t let yesterday’s Virtual Assistant turned Social Media consultant scare you into thinking the sky will fall if you don’t get a Twitter account. Pick the social media services that will contribute to your business.

If you do need advice about how Social Media & Search Engine optimization may contribute to a successful business, ask people who have used the internet to build a successful business. I don’t mean people that have built a job… I mean people that have built a business.

Calgary Social Media Consultants Open Shop

David West — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 23:34:22 +0000

April 1, 2010 Ulistic Inc., a Calgary Social Media consultancy and search engine optimization service have opened a registration site. The new registration site is where Ulistic will feature upcoming training workshops.

Currently workshops, scheduled and ready for registrations include;

The Ulistic approach to internet consulting is based on empower the client to take ownership of their online presence through education and support.

A practical “newbie” training…‎ By Sandy – Mar 30, 2010

I have been privileged to take two of Ulistic’s social media courses and they have helped me overcome my fear in this area. They taught it in an understandable, hands-on method so that when I left, I felt confident that I could do this. Other courses left me feeling overwhelmed, rather than equipped. Though they’re very experienced in this field, they didn’t make me feel that my questions were silly. I felt very comfortable during the course and excited to try it out for my business. Thanks, Ulistic!!‎

King Ralph is back again!

David West — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 16:29:40 +0000

CALGARY, AB. – The notorious new television program that’s been making headlines from coast to coast is set to broadcast Part 2! Featured on the front page of the National Post and every major TV, radio and newspaper network, Ralph Klein’s latest under-taking has the entire nation abuzz. On Saturday night, the former Alberta premier, master of the memorable soundbite, returns for the second episode of “On the Clock with Ralph Klein and Josh Groberman”: Canada’s first ever news-talk/game-show hybrid!

Rising young Calgary producer, Josh Groberman, challenges an expert panel of pundits and politicians with questions on political, social, economic, and international issues. Topics are often amusing or controversial. Each panelist is then “on the clock” to respond within 15 to 45 seconds.

Perched atop his throne, “King Ralph” presides over the discussion, weighing their replies and liberally doling out “Ralph Bucks” for the best, candid or insightful responses. At the end of the show, whichever guest amasses the most Ralph Bucks is declared winner.

Part 2 airs on the CTS Television Network across Ontario, Alberta and nationwide via satellite.

We are proud to be broadcasting this program during Earth hour in Alberta, being that On the Clock is a “hybrid”!

Saturday, March 27 @ 8:00pm Mountain / 10:00pm Eastern.

Repeat (AB only) Sunday, March 28 @ 7:00pm Mountain.

For viewers who are obsessing over Ralph Klein’s retirement, please see today’s National Post’s LETTER OF THE DAY! http://www.nationalpost.com/story.html?id=2727780

Check out http://www.ontheclock.ca to watch part one and for complete broadcast coverage of the program.

Contact: Josh Groberman, President, Josh Groberman Productions Inc.
http://www.ontheclock.ca

Why You May Want to Adopt Social Media

David West — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 03:35:34 +0000

To make friends and grow your “circle of influence”

No doubt some people are using social media sites like Twitter to build a list of loyal followers and to follow people of influence. The “social circle” can become an important influence on some. Others may be influenced. A great example of this potential influence is how Google is now returning a mix of search results, including “Results from people in your social circle…” Who better to trust than someone you know?

Drive Traffic to Your Sales Funnel

Probably one of the areas of Social Media that creates the most contraversy… but don’t kid yourself, a lot of people are using social media to drive traffic to their marketing website.

Listen to What is Being Said

Don’t want more friends? Not worred about using social media to drive interest in your products? At the very minimum, if you are not in the social circle, you may miss an important opportunity to manage your reputation. This may be one of the reasons many business owners are adopting social media. Reputation management does not have to be a full time job, but one day, it might be.

And on Another Note…

The VAR Guy, wrote about “Seven Signes Your Social Media Coach is a Fraud” today. He has whipped up a good converstation that is worth pondering. Thanks VAR Guy for your kind mention of Stuart and Ulistic.

I recently had a bit of my own rant about Social Media Consultants, among other… here.

Cheers,

David

The Way Email Disclaimers Should Read

David West — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 23:28:15 +0000

Disclaimer

This email, together with any attachments, is intended ONLY for the people that have access to it via the intricate network of firewalls, routers and servers that are required to deliver it to it’s final and real intended recipient… the entity to which it is addressed. It may contain information that is legally privileged, but probably does not, it might be confidential, and/or subject to copyright, but since the use of email pretty much exposes me totally to anyone in your address book, I will forgo the false hopes that this information will remain private, primarily because privacy is a concept that no longer exists. If you are not the intended recipient, please be informed that it is virtually impossible for me to stop you from dissemination, distribution or copying of this email, any attachment, or part thereof (I have freaking told you it is strictly prohibited). Kindly note that internet communications are not secure (which pretty much indicates that all prior warnings are of no real value), and therefore are susceptible to alterations (so I may actually have not wrote what you are reading). If you have received this email in error, please advise the sender by reply email, and delete this message. Your co-operation on this matter is highly appreciated. Thank you.

It’s Not About Your Knowledge

David West — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 17:07:38 +0000

It is about “when” you deliver your knowledge.

Have you ever met with a business person, and before you have a chance to get to know them, they take pause to “offer you some insight”. For example, a quick critique of your business card. They may offer, “it is the most important part of your marketing, your card is too cluttered and the double sided gloss finish… (inject sigh) …I like to write on peoples cards and I can’t write on your gloss finish”

Well, my cards are full of information so you don’t have to write on them. Design is subjective. One persons perception of excellent design is outright rejected by another.

By freely offering insight, professionals devalue their knowledge.

If they are not a trusted adviser, they are simply giving an opinion. You know what they say about opinions, don’t you? Business advisers need to be careful how and when they deliver their knowledge or it will not hold the value that they think it does.

Cheers,

David West

Burn Baby Burn… Is Your Reputation on Fire?

David West — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 20:55:14 +0000

As a distributed technology and communications platform, the people who created the internet did not intended it to become a soap box for customers to burn their service providers in effigy.

The question used to be, “how can I get my website on first page Google?” Now the question is, “how can I get this offensive blog posting off of first page Google?”

Reputation management is becoming a term that more and more businesses are learning. Reputation monitoring and effective response are a part of your daily chores. If not today, perhaps tomorrow.

David

My Friend’s Dog Can’t Hold it’s Bladder

David West — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 03:12:19 +0000

…because dogs don’t have thumbs.

It’s really a matter of how you look at life. When people make statements, it isn’t really the statement that counts, it’s what pops into the listeners head that counts.

Years ago, I read a list on “email etiquette” that included the caution that one day “you” will write an email and regret it. Social media sites like Twitter, Meetup and Facebook take us into a whole new world of “one day you will regret it”. We have matured beyond email etiquette to needing social media etiquette.

Pause before you post.

Cheers.

David

Is Your Calgary Social Media Consultant Holding Back?

David West — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 02:16:11 +0000

How about your Search Engine Optimization expert? Do they hold their cards so close to their chest that you have no idea what their next move is?

“Baby Google” Causes a New Industry Called SEO

Only 10 years ago, when Google search was in it’s infancy, a whole new industry started to appear. Search Engine Optimization consultants, or SEO’s, as they are commonly referred to, emerged as a new industry. Over the years there have emerged some excellent SEO practitioners, as well as some less than desirable. Most SEO practitioners continue to do the work of Search Engine Optimization for their clients, but the act of doing SEO is something that can be learned. It is something that can be taught. As the purchaser of these services, I assert that you should have, at minimum, an entry level understanding of what you are buying.

Where Do the Best SEO Practitioners Come From?

Some of the best Calgary Search Engine Optimizers, that I know of, have evolved from website developers into website marketers. It is natural that someone who develops hundreds of websites would be challenged to help their clients get those sites on Google Search Engine Results Pages (SERP’s). I have also witnessed some very driven entrepreneurs create very powerful online brands by doing their own research and implementation. You can effectively get your own website to perform online.

There is no Secret Sauce or Magic Relationship to Page 1

Beware the Search Engine Optimizer that tells you there is a secret formula. A silver bullet that only they can shoot, a special relationship with Google… I met one of these new SEO practitioners recently. My red flags were flying pretty high by the end of our little chat. Unfortunately, the website owner doesn’t typically know enough about this industry to protect themselves from people like this. More and more website owners are tuning in though, and as a result making better decisions when finding trusted advisors.

Enter The Era of a New Industry – and a bunch more confusion

11 years after Google revolutionized the word “search”, a new industry is spinning up. Companies are being driven to find a Social Media Consultant. Enter the era of a new industry, and another confusing purchasing decision for small business owners. Business owners have to decide to learn and do it themselves, hire an employee, or hire a consultant. This industry is, in my humble opinion, even more crazy than that of website development, or search engine optimization. We are seeing people who were Virtual Assistants yesterday touting themselves as an expert in Social Media the next. I’m sorry, but just because you can open a Twitter account or use Facebook does not make you the best advisor for a legitimate business.

We found this at a recent blog posting in Calgary;

I have been helping businesses market themselves for over 10 years, starting off with promotional products and now with Social Media. I understand the value of 140 characters

Anyone Can Tweet – But Does a Tweet in the night get heard?

There is more to Social Media Consulting than just opening accounts and shouting at the World. Having a fundamental understanding of the tools and technologies helps. Having the ability to craft good messages and manage relationships – essential. Having a social media action plan that gives purpose to your chatter online – essential. At the end of the day, if participation in the social aspect of the Internet does not position your business as the experts in your industry, and if it does not allow you to own your online reputation, then what are you getting out of these efforts?

How Many Red Flags can you raise?

If your Social Media Consultant simply brushes your questions off with the assertion that they are the expert, “just leave it to me”, then you should raise a red flag. If your Social Media Consultant does not teach you with the intention that you or your own staff can take ownership of your online “persona”, then you should raise another red flag. If you do not control your social media accounts online, you are at the will of your consultant. Raise another red flag.

Know What You are Buying…

You can learn how to do these things yourself. Indeed you may want to stay focused on your core business. In any case, being educated about these industries will make you a much better purchaser, should you wish to hire a consultant.

Ulistic, a Calgary Internet Consulting firm, combines the power of search with the power of social to turn website havers into website owners. We have developed a website owners training process that will empower you to take ownership of your online marketing. Is it time to get started now?

Cheers –

David

Google – What You See Is What You Get

David West — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 23:13:53 +0000

or Is it? Google is now serving personalized search results to everyone…

There have been a number of changes in the way that Google displays search results. These changes are subtle and have been rolled out slowly over the past months. If you care about where your website or information about your business surfaces online, you will want to know this…

Kulick & Horling, both Googlers, declared online that Google now uses browser cookies to trend your search behaviour. By tracking what you search for, and what website links you choose on search engine results pages (SERPS). Google is massaging the results in hopes of giving you what you need. Good accurate search results = happy searcher = return to Google for future search. If you have a Google account, and you are logged into it while you surf, Google is collecting more than just your search behaviour. They are tracking your web surfing history, even after you leave Google. Using this collected data Google can further manipulate the search results that they serve you.

Incidentally, any web developer can use cookies to store information about your surfing behaviour while you visit their website. The data stored in cookies, which are tiny text files that reside on your own computer, can not be read by different domains. So Google can not read cookies from other websites and vice versa other websites can not read Cookies by Google.com.

“Previously, we only offered Personalized Search for signed-in users, and only when they had Web History enabled on their Google Accounts. What we’re doing today is expanding Personalized Search so that we can provide it to signed-out users as well. This addition enables us to customize search results for you based upon 180 days of search activity linked to an anonymous cookie in your browser,” wrote Google’s Bryan Horling, Software Engineer and Matthew Kulick, Product Manager.

Here is a scenario for you, to help you understand what this all means. A website owner checks the position of their site often by entering keywords into Google Search. Google returns a search result and while the website owner is there there, they will often check their competitors websites out. Let’s say that this website owner loves their own website – but never visits it from the Google search result. This behaviour could potentially teach Google that your competitors website is more relevant to you than your own website. Given a similar pattern over a period of time and you could find that your own site is slipping lower and lower on the search result page. How Google interprets the general behaviour gleaned from a large sample of users who search the same keywords is yet to be seen… or perhaps already being seen?

You can clear your web browsers cookies. I won’t get into that here… but if you Google it… you are sure to get the right results… custom tailored to meet your needs based on your previous search behaviour.

Google does have a page that descirbes “Personalized Search” here. They point out the difference between logged in to your Google account and not. – - http://www.google.com/support/accounts/bin/answer.py?answer=54041

Google does allow people to turn off web history from within their Google account. A regular deleting of Cookies from your web browser may be a good habit too.

David West

Google Favourite Places and Bar Codes…

David West — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 18:56:33 +0000

As Google continues to develop it’s “Local Business Centre” one of the new advents is the introduction of physical labels that include a barcode. These physical labels are being sent to business owners that have already verified ownership of their Local Business listing on Google maps.

The barcode, or QR Code that is on the label allows people with smart phones to simply scan the code with the phones camera. Litterally within a fraction of a second, you receive all of the business details from Google’s Local Business listing including any coupons or offers that the owner has posted.

Reviews are also returned. The good, the bad and the ugly are returned. In fact Google even suggests that there is no better time than the present to leave a review -

“Leave a review right after you leave the business. What’s a better time to write what you think, than when you’ve just visited?”

There are already several QR Code scanning apps on the App Store. I dropped a $1.99 and got one and scanned the code on this page… It works very quickly.

To learn more about being a “Favorite Place on Google” you can visit this page here

Cheers -

David

Identify Yourself…

David West — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 15:08:26 +0000

Would you do business with a person who didn’t tell you their name or hand you a business card when you met them?

Would you consider requesting a proposal from an online service that does not include a phone number, contact form, or address on their website? It is not difficult to find websites on the internet where there is no information about the owners or key stakeholders.

Does your website have your phone number on the home page? How about a page that has information about your company directors? A detailed contact page is important – it certainly would encourage me to give you a call.

The Social aspects of the Social Networking craze that is sweeping the internet has to have an impact on how you write for your marketing website. Earn some trust by providing good information, make a clear call to action, and identify yourself. The days of doing business with corporations are slipping away… people want to do business with people.

If your marketing website is more than a few years old, it will be missing key elements that a modern website should include. It may be time for a website review with an Internet Consultant.

David A. West

Connect with me:

How is Your Business Being Promoted with Social Media?

David West — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 23:05:45 +0000

This is pretty brilliant – this YouTube video explains how Ikea used existing tagging capabilities of FaceBook to encourage syndication and interaction with their online gallery promoting the opening of a new store. Watch the video…

What if You Had No Control At Your Website

David West — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 21:13:17 +0000

As social media and the onslaught of “free-for-all” user contributed content storms the web, until recently one of the few areas you had complete control over was your own website. That recently changed.

Google has launched it’s new “Sidewiki” as a portion to the Google Toolbar. Now as people surf the net they are being encouraged to comment on any website that they visit.

From the moment I upgraded my toolbar to give this “sidewiki” a little go, I can see there is certain degree of anxiety based on the postings on Google’s own sidewiki own page…

Travis Claridge wrote “How will this affect business and advertising? – this is a very scary tool from the aspect of a business and advertising. How deos a buisness prepare for the PR onslaught and respond to issues brought up through this service? Worse yet… if they don’t adapt quickly they will never even see content written about them.”

Kevin Fox wrote, “Promising, I’m glad to see Google try this… As Google explains their algorithm for comment position – irrelevant or unhelpful comments should sink to the bottom.” He also wrote, “I’m curious how Sidewiki will impact SEO, or will it be a whole new venue for SEO?”

It begs the questions also, when will Sidewiki “comments” be returned as actual relevant search results that then link to the related page?

Skye B wrote, “This is a place for “word of mouth” so to speak. Hopefully with the help of majority of surfers it will be spam free. No more websites or blogs that don’t offer a chance to readers to speak their mind. Some websites don’t post your comments if you don’t agree with them, but those days are gone! Freedom of speech for everyone! Thanks Google”

Interesting that this person, under an alias name, is also the one most concerned about freedom of speech – but won’t put their name to it.

A little shoot over to YouTube to see what viewers of Google’s sidewiki video are saying… and wow, some very interesting comments. Of course, comments that are welcomed at YouTube may not be so welcome at your marketing website. At YouTube when you post a video you have the option to moderate comments and you can decide which comments should be public… Google Sidewiki does not give website owners the ability to moderate user contributed content.

MrSaxaman1973 wrote, “Those talking about “Freedom of Speech”. This has nothing to do with YOUR speech. It has to do with the website owners Freedom of Speech. You need to be a website owner to really understand. We assemble websites the way we do on purpose. To provide info and services that YES, make us money, but its our money that we are putting on the line & our decision on how to use it. SideWiki is taking that away by enabling random users the ability to direct visitors ($) away from our investments! “EVIL”!!!”

Over now to the seroundtable.com forums to see what the search optimizers are chatting about. Ah, they are chatting about blocking users from accessing websites if they have the Google toolbar installed. Interesting. The chatter here is to either convince Google to allow webmasters to opt-out on a site by site basis or to simply block users or redirect them somewhere else, like maybe Bing.com for example.

Whitenight commented at webmasterworld, “…this is a lawsuit waiting to happen.”

Just like with Twitter, my jury is out on Sidewiki. I am not sure how this is going to pan out. I can safely say, it is causing a bit of a stir online.

David

Canadian Small Business Blog

David West — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 13:56:34 +0000

Stuart Crawford from Bulletproof InfoTech is at it again, yes, he is starting another blog focused on delivering information to the small business community throughout Canada.

The Canadian Small Business Blog launched over the past weekend with a goal to help entrepreneurs, small business owners and those who work in small business from coast to coast to coast in Canada have a place and a voice in our vibrant community. Small Business is a healthy community and the cornerstone of our economy right here in Canada. With over 97% of business in Canada employing less than 250 staff members, it will be this community which rebuilds Canada after the great economic reset.

Stuart, Vice President at Bulletproof InfoTech, a firm focused on delivering Calgary and Red Deer firms with quality IT services, computer repair, computer solutions and technology consulting has only focused on small business throughout his entire career. “My passion is to help small business get the right information technology so they can build a strong business”, says Stuart.

Check out the Canadian Small Business Blog today at http://www.smallbusinessblog.ca.

Do You Want More Leads from Your Website?

David West — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 16:57:04 +0000

Has the economy slowed your business down?

I talk to a lot of small business owners in a week and the general consensus is that most companies have seen a decline in revenue over the past 12 months. You really have two choices to make when your business is slow – cut expenses or increase sales.

Do You Want More Leads from Your Website?

You may have the ability to increase the leads that your website generates. Have you heard of Search Engine Optimization – my guess is yes. It’s quite a buzz right now. That and “Social Media”… things like Twitter, Facebook and Linked In.

What does all of this SEO, social media stuff mean?

If you are even slightly confused or feeling overwhelmed trying to both understand and implement an online marketing program – we have a solution for you.

What does it do for your business website?

If you cause enough banter online and direct the focus of the various media to your marketing website, the search engines respond by showing searchers links to your online presence. The louder you banter… more traffic. A well designed website with clear conversion goals will convert those visitors to potential clients. That’s what search engine optimization, social media and video syndication can do for your business.

I’d like to Introduce you to Ulistic

I would like to introduce you to ULISTIC Inc. Our focus is completely on internet consulting and marketing. Here are some of the things we want to help you with;

Managed social media, yes we can do it for you. Become a part of a growing Twitter pool and let work at driving traffic to your website or blog
Search Engine Optimization, get your website showing up on Google for the important keywords and phrases that will generate new leads.
Website conversion goal review and optimization. Getting traffic is only one part of the big picture… is your website really ready to greet guests and compel them to call you?
Social Media Coaching and Setup. One and one setup and design of your Facebook company page, LinkedIn, and Twitter account. Setup to automatically cross syndicate you blog writing, tweets and status updates!
Internet video production and syndication – with a focus on getting traffic!

David A. West

Calgary Search Engine Optimization Consulting Firm Partners with MSP University

Angel Rodriguez, Frito Lay VP joins Ulistic’s Small Business Podcast

Webinar: Leverage Facebook Marketing

Have You Ever Said Something You Want to Take Back?

3 Reasons Your Search Engine Optimization Plan Isn’t Working the Way You Thought it Would

Job Seeker Wins First Page Google Result

YouTube Introduces Video Editor

Twitter Me This: Unlocking the Door to Tweet Marketing

Googler Maile Ohye Delivers Keyword Rich Keynote

Improve User Experience & Get More Clients

SES Toronto is Underway – Here’s the Plan

Off to Toronto for #SESTO – Search Engine Strategies Toronto

The Simple Things in Life Are Free

What’s Cool In the World of the Web Today?

WordPress Blog Training Comes to Calgary

Blogging for Business is June 23rd, 2010 8:30 am to 4:30 pm – Blackfoot Inn, SE Calgary, Alberta

Will Flash Ever Work on the iPad?

The Ulistic SEO Canadian Tour Launches May 18th, 2010

Live Blog – LinkedIn for Business Introduction

The ABC’s of Google Search

Before I am Forced to Commit Social Suicide…

Calgary Social Media Consultants Open Shop

King Ralph is back again!

Why You May Want to Adopt Social Media

The Way Email Disclaimers Should Read

It’s Not About Your Knowledge

Burn Baby Burn… Is Your Reputation on Fire?

My Friend’s Dog Can’t Hold it’s Bladder

Is Your Calgary Social Media Consultant Holding Back?

Google – What You See Is What You Get

Google Favourite Places and Bar Codes…

Identify Yourself…

How is Your Business Being Promoted with Social Media?

What if You Had No Control At Your Website

Canadian Small Business Blog

Do You Want More Leads from Your Website?

Blogging for Business is June 23rd, 2010
8:30 am to 4:30 pm – Blackfoot Inn, SE Calgary, Alberta