If, like most Alberta business owners and marketing managers, you’re on the wiser side of 30 years old, you probably remember Bob from Sesame Street singing about the people in your neighborhood. From the policeman to the dentist, his songs introduced you to everyone you could expect to see in the real world around you, and the list was always growing.

I think back to those songs at times, especially when I’m explaining the Internet, social media, and online marketing. In fact, I like to bring up Bob in my speeches and presentations. I have two good reasons for doing this. For one thing, whether I’m speaking to authorities in the Alberta provincial government or a group of entrepreneurs in Edmonton, almost everyone seems to remember Bob and what it’s like to meet “a person in your neighborhood.” And on the other hand, it’s a great analogy for the way the Internet has grown.

In its earliest days, the World Wide Web was mostly populated with a handful of young geeks who understood the basics of HTML code. In a relatively short amount of time, however, programmers started to appear as well, and then web designers who made pages more visually appealing, followed by coders who came up with custom apps and languages. The Internet just kept growing and growing – more and more people moved into the neighborhood – until we reach the point where we have search engine optimization specialists, social media advisers, online marketing gurus, community managers, and a lot more.

As the neighborhood has gotten bigger it has become more important than ever for the owners and managers of Canadian companies to know how these different types of professionals can help them grow their organizations and compete online. Just as we have reached a point where we realize the value that comes with having the right accountant, lawyer, or IT professional, having the right online marketing team on your side isn’t a luxury… it’s just good business.

The Internet has grown in complexity to the point where it’s difficult for any business owner, manager, or executive to know everything they need to master the subject. Luckily, you don’t have to – you just have to know who the right people in your neighborhood are.

Want to learn more about Internet marketing professionals, or have David come speak to your group? Get in touch with us today to talk about your event or business situation.

It can be easy to get the itch to imitate something you’ve seen a competitor do online, especially when they’re sitting well ahead of you in the search engine rankings, or expanding their company at a time when you’re treading water and are struggling to get by. In fact, we meet with small business owners every day who are motivated to make a change in their website or online marketing plan simply because they’ve seen someone else do the same.

There are times when a competitor’s move can inspire or necessitate doing something different, but take care that you don’t choose a losing Internet marketing strategy.

Why do we point this out? Because not everything is as it appears from the outside. Unless you have a great deal of personal insight into your competitor’s books, there’s nothing to say that they aren’t pouring a lot of time and money into the wrong things. Or, it could be that they’re drastically increasing their Internet marketing budget simply because the rest of their business is doing so badly. It’s surprisingly common for struggling companies to turn their efforts to find new customers after it’s already way too late.

To keep you from copying someone else’s mistakes, here are a few quick things to look for when examining a competitor’s website or online marketing campaign:

Run the numbers. Take a hard look at what the other company is doing and try to make an educated guess at what kind of return they’re likely to be seeing from it. You won’t have all the figures, naturally, but by talking to your web design team in thinking about prices and percentages, you might be able to come closer than you think.

Imagine what a similar activity will cost you. If you were to try the same thing, or something similar, what would the cost be? Compare that to a conservative estimate of what you think it’s earning them, and then try to decide whether it’s an idea that’s even worth considering.

See if there’s a better or more efficient way. Often times, the first business to try something isn’t the one that gets it right. See if there isn’t some way to improve on your competitor site or idea, and you might just make the breakthrough that they weren’t able to find.

Effective online marketing takes a lot more than a small business website. Contact eKzact – One of Calgary’s best web design teams – today to find out what we can do for you.

Amazing as it seems now, there was a time not so many years ago when no one, except the most tech-savvy small businesses, had regular access to a webmaster or IT professional. Granted, those people were around, but you generally called on them when you needed something fixed, not because you wanted one on staff. Now, of course, nearly everyone has an internal or contracted team to keep their small business site up and running and their technology online – to go without would quickly put your company at risk.

That’s how I’m starting to feel about community managers – men and women whose job it is to keep your online content and social profiles up to date and moving forward.

Why? Because as with all things on the Internet, change is coming faster than most of us had anticipated. Social networking sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter aren’t just gaining steam – they are bulldozing any previous notions we had about how customers find us and communicate with us. The profiles you have on these websites affect everything from your repeat business to your online reputation, and even search engine optimization. To go without them means to give up valuable ground to other companies who would love to take new accounts away from you.

The way a community manager fits into this mix is by making sure your posts and profiles are all up to date, on point, and keeping your online marketing efforts in sync with one another. That’s why, here at eKzact, we’ve made our community manager a big part of our ongoing work, and invite you to take advantage of this service. The web (and especially social network marketing) has simply gotten too big, and too important, for most of us to keep our hands around while still running our companies – why not let a professional help us keep things moving in the right direction?

When social media was first taking off and gaining steam, Facebook didn’t really have much in the way of competition, at least when it came to users’ attention. MySpace had gotten there first, but was mainly used by the younger crowd, and Twitter didn’t offer the depth of communication and connection that a site that allowed you to connect with your friends, relatives, and colleagues did. And so it was no surprise that when Facebook announced plans to add advertising features to its site, companies of all sizes lined up around the block to give it a try.

Now, just a short while later, a lot of what made Facebook unique is starting to wear away. Other companies, like Google and Bing, are finding ways to integrate “likes” (through +1 and similar add ons) into your profile and share preferences with other users. But despite these changes, Facebook still represents a completely unique advertising environment, and one most small businesses should at least try. Here’s why: Facebook doesn’t just market based on what it thinks it knows about you – it works off of data users provide about themselves.

This might seem like a minor difference from search engine optimization, or pay per click advertising, where searchers indicate what’s on their mind at the moment. But when you think about it on a deeper level (or have worked with search engine marketing strategies for some time), you often find that what people type into Google’s query box isn’t always exactly what they meant. And with new auto complete features coming into full swing this year, it’s even harder to tell whether someone meant to find your website, or just something that was vaguely similar.

Search engine optimization and other forms of online marketing aren’t going anywhere soon, and we’re not even going to argue that Facebook is “better” at finding customers than anything else. What you should know and remember, however, is that the fact that it pulls information that people give themselves makes it one-of-a-kind… at least for now. For some products and services, that’s an online marketing edge that just can’t be matched anywhere else.

If you’re wondering whether Facebook could be a great online advertising platform for your company, contact one of Calgary’s best Internet marketing partners – eKzact web design – today for a free consultation!

There are a lot of things social networking sites are great for, like sharing news, advertising online coupons, and reaching out to new potential customers. When small businesses first get involved with Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and social media in general,  however, they often don’t use them to their marketing potential.

In order to get more out of social media sites, you can’t do all the work yourself. Here are a few ways you can make your profile stronger by getting your customers in on the act:

Ask customers to submit product photos and stories. If you sell something that people interact with regularly, or depend on as part of their day-to-day jobs, then they might be able to say far more about your products than any marketing copy ever could. The more other buyers can see customers using your merchandise, the stronger impression it’s going to make in their minds.

Hold contests to find the next marketing tagline or offer. This is a great way to get customers involved for two reasons: one, you give them the chance to tell you what they’d really like to see you offer in terms of products and pricing; and two, because you subtly alert them that a big sale or event is around the corner. Why not offer a coupon or gift certificate to the customer who can help you come up with the next great social marketing idea?

Get feedback and testimonials from buyers. Obviously, few things help you sell online like positive reviews and feedback. But even if all the news isn’t good, you still win. That’s because you don’t just find areas where you could improve your company and service, but you also show potential buyers that you’re willing to listen and that their concerns are important to you.

Give discounts for passing your name along. In the same way, giving premiums, gifts, or bonuses for referrals isn’t exactly a new concept. But by making these offers on social media sites, you’re making it a lot easier and more convenient for your customers to take advantage. Give them an incentive to tell other people about the great things you do, and you might persuade them to go out and do it.

Need an online marketing team that knows social networking sites inside and out? Try one of Calgary’s best by contacting eKzact today!

Recently, we wrote about community managers – dedicated professionals who update your social media profiles, post new content, and respond to inquiries. While this is still a new position in most organizations, and one with evolving responsibilities, it’s becoming clear that having one, even on a part-time basis, can be incredibly helpful.

So the question is: does your small business need a community manager to keep up social networking?

Truthfully, probably not… at lease not any more than you occasionally need a plumber, an accountant, or a dentist. That is to say, you can definitely get by without one in the short term, but is it really worth it to do all of that work for yourself?

In most of the cases we see, it’s not. For one thing, there are just too many sites, with too many new features being added all the time, to stay on top of everything. But what’s more, community managers are becoming increasingly important because of something a lot of small business owners don’t even really think about: their online reputation.

Besides just posting pictures and generating tweets, one of the most valuable things a community manager can do for you is take a look at what other people are saying back to you, and about your business. Because the Internet is becoming more interconnected – not to mention updated in real time – and it only takes one or two negative remarks to put a long-term dent in your company sales. For all of the opportunities that exist for finding new business online, it’s more than prudent to have someone who’s looking out for potential threats to your marketing, too.

So if your company is planning on profiting from social media anytime soon, and it should, make sure you plan on including community managers in the mix. They can make the whole process easier and more efficient… but more importantly, they can help protect your reputation online.

Get the most out of social media marketing by working with Canada’s premier web design and development company, eKzact. Call us today and setup a free consultation – it might turn out to be one of the best things you’ve ever done for your business.

The geniuses working at Google’s Silicon Valley offices must have been pretty busy lately. Not only have they decided to outfit an entire town in Kansas with super high speed Internet, but they recently rolled out their “+1″ feature that allows searchers to share which results they find most helpful. But rather than taking the rest of the month off, as some of us would be tempted to do, they quietly introduced another new feature: Google Guru.

Guru, in a nutshell, is a service that allows users to open up a chat window and ask simple questions they want the answers to. Experts or other users can then help them find the appropriate information, without having to delve directly into Google search interface and find results. What are some of the things people might want to find? Here are just a handful of examples:

• Current weather and forecasts
• Sports scores
• Average prices
• Currency conversions
• Time in a different part of the world
• Geographic questions
• Trivia

… and a lot more. Much of this information could be available elsewhere on the Web, but using guru has the potential to make things faster and more efficient.

From an online marketing standpoint, this probably doesn’t mean a lot for your business at the moment. That’s not to say that it doesn’t matter, however. The introduction of Google Guru means more ties between the world’s largest search engine and mobile devices, more interaction with people instead of search engine spiders, and an overall focus on helping users find the information they’re looking for with minimum effort.

As you consider your online marketing plans going forward, try to find ways to make it easier for people to locate information or do business with you more efficiently. That’s because, as Guru shows us, you’re bound to be rewarded for it sooner or later.

eKzact Web Design and Online Marketing is Calgary’s premier Internet development company. Call us today to schedule a free consultation and find out why!

If you’ve noticed something new about your Google search results today – and not everyone will, since the changes being made are gradually across different locations and browsers – you’re not alone. Google has recently announced that they’ll start adding “+1″ buttons to listings.

What does +1 mean? It’s most similar to Facebook’s “like this” tab, which allows users to point out which pages are destinations they consider to be most helpful. The results are then made public to your Gmail contacts, although this may expand in the future, and Google has some tentative plans to collect aggregate +1 data for sites and pages to see which ones are most popular.

As a web user, this might seem like a neat little feature to share which sites you enjoy. But as an online marketer, it should alert you to some deeper truths and trends. Here are three things you definitely need to know about Google’s new +1 addition:

It’s further blurring the lines between search and social media. By essentially following in the footsteps of Facebook’s like this or Twitter’s “retweet” option, Google is positioning itself less as a pure search engine and more of a social hub. Expect that these Internet giants will continue to battle it out for the lion’s share of your attention.

Online marketers will try to one up each other. You can bet that, as soon as +1 becomes widespread, companies will be trying hard to one up each other with more +1′s. Not only will it make them seem more popular and possibly spread their marketing message, but there’s the chance that it could even help their search positioning down the road, if Google (logically) decides that sites with more approvals should get higher rankings.

Quality content is more important than ever. Ultimately, what +1 does is place more control into the hands of searchers. And what sort of sites and pages will they reward? That’s right, the ones with the most helpful – and most interesting – content. Having high quality writing and video on your small business website has become more and more important in recent years. That trend is only going to continue.

Need a Calgary Web design and online marketing partner who can help you stay on top of the latest web trends? Contact eKzact today. We’ll show you what’s going on in the online world, and how your business can take advantage.

Google and the other major search engines have reported in the past few years that “image result” queries are on the rise. This isn’t all that surprising — lots of people check out pictures of nature, super-models, sports events, and more — and might seem like it has nothing to do with you and me.

The reality, though, is that people aren’t just looking up celebrities and postcard landscapes… they’re also searching for images of friends, colleagues, and vendors.

What does this have to do with you, or your online marketing? It’s simple, the bigger and better you get, the higher the odds are that someone is going to decide to try to put a face with your name and Google you for image results. Or, the more pictures there are of you online, the more likely it is that someone searching your company is going to come across one of them. In either case, think carefully about what they would find. Is it something that would help, or hurt, your professional image?

If you aren’t sure, then your first step should be to perform a similar search yourself. Many people do this and are surprised at what comes up. For one thing, there might be a lot of photos of another person with the same name but (whether obviously or not) isn’t you. And for another, you could come up with photos you haven’t seen in years, snapshots where you have been tagged on other people’s social media profiles, pictures from old jobs or news articles, and so on.

Regardless of what you find, there are two things you deftly should do: first, try to remove anything that might harm your long term professional prospects; and secondly, make sure there are at least a few places where people can find a nice, comforting, professional photograph of you. In fact, go ahead and spend a few dollars having one done if you need to — it’s a small investment with a potentially large payoff.

Most of us aren’t famous enough that we have tons of adoring fans searching out our photos online. That doesn’t mean, however, that we can afford not to clean up our image online.

Need common sense advice and uncommon Internet marketing results? Get in touch with the team at eKzact — we’re one of Calgary’s leading web design, online marketing, e-commerce, social media, and everything else you need to keep your business moving ahead on the web.

As spring weather starts to move in, a lot of us will turn our thoughts to green grass, warmer temperatures, and maybe getting outside on the evenings and weekends. But if you can manage to focus a little bit of your time and energy on online marketing as the warmer days come, you might be surprised at how much you can accomplish while the rest of the world isn’t paying attention — and how much easier your summer months will feel with the hard work out of the way.

Here is a quick reminder of four areas where you might think about tuning up your business website this spring:

Refresh your search engine optimization plan. If you’re not showing up on one of the top few spots on Google or Yahoo for your most important keywords, then it’s very likely costing you a lot of money. Now is a great time to think about optimizing your site for the future.

Gather some steam on your social media profiles. More followers, better profiles, and frequent updates all make it easier to use sites like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn to secure new customers. Make it your goal this spring to add one or two new contacts every day.

Add more online videos to your company’s site. Online videos don’t just help you sell more, but also create stronger brand awareness, decrease customer-service expenses, and improve traffic to your site. Why not take advantage of the new season by shooting a few high-quality clips?

Plan for some new web content. This is often the part of the year where all the grand plans and ideas people had at New Year’s start to lose some of the momentum. Take advantage of the warmer weather and give yourself a mental break, but also assess how you doing towards reaching your long-term goals and make a firm plan to get back on track if you need to do.

Want to start making your company more competitive online this spring? Find out how eKzact Web Design has helped so many other businesses in and around Calgary to meet their bottom-line goals.

FREE! BUSINESS NETWORKING EVENING FREE!
Wednesday, May 20th, 2009
Halo Steak, Seafood & Wine Bar, 13226 Macleod Trail SE

6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Hosted by The Progressive Group for Independent Business (PGIB)
In Co-operation with the South Calgary Merchants Association

In co-operation with the South Calgary Merchants Association PGIB are hosting a FREE networking evening for all of Calgary and area entrepreneurs. We just wanted to drop you a quick line and encourage you to register. PGIB’s paid evening attracted over 190 last meeting and we expect because this one is FREE that it will be completely packed and we may be forced to turn people away if they are not registered. Register now by emailing the address below.

This is a great opportunity to meet many new faces from the business community in South Calgary and many from Okotoks area that are driving up for this event.

This will be a great opportunity to make new contacts and re-connect with old ones.

We hope to see you out next week. We also encourage you to send this email out to all you know as we are sure they would appreciate this FREE event.

Date: Wednesday, May 20th, 2009
When: 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Location: Halo Steak, Seafood & Wine Bar, 13226 Macleod Trail SE (In Canyon Meadows Theatre Parking Lot)
Cost: FREE (includes finger foods and a cash bar)

Please confirm your attendance by calling 403-720-2143 or e-mailing marketing@pgib.ca so we can order the appropriate amount of food from the establishment.

This is the time of year to decide what to do for the next book. I have a number of clients asking me what they should consider doing. Are you curious to know if people are renewing? canceling? increasing or decreasing their Yellow Pages advertising…

If you would please take 3 minutes to complete this very brief survey – I will compile the results and share them with you. I wrote the survey in order to get an idea of what business owners or managers are planning for this years “Yellow Pages” budget.

What are you planning for your Yellow Pages budget this year – please complete this brief survey (8 questions)

–> http://ekzact.com/survey/index.php?sid=16849

Thank you for participating.

David West,
Director
dawest@ekzact.com :: www.ekzact.com

eKzact Solutions Inc.
Tel: 403-770-3023 ext. 111
Fax:403-398-1446

NEW – VideoSpokes :: Be the spokesperson at your website!
Business Blog :: All business, all of the time.
Personal Blog :: Mostly business, but some fun too.

Skype: ekzactsolutions
SkypeIn: 403-775-2205

PS – Are you afraid? Afraid of public speaking, that is? Registration is now open for EasySpeak™… click here

10 years ago it was a tough sell to convince a small business that they should get a website. Today, most business owners and entrepreneurs turn to online marketing, and a website is usually first on the list.

There is more to online marketing today than just your business website. Are you missing the boat?

Read the recent post at my article on Web 2.0 & Missing the Boat here where we write about Calgary website design, marketing and other business related topics.

Web 2.0 & Missing the Boat

Stuart Crawford and I will be presenting at the upcoming Calgary Entrepreneur Meetup Group. The meeting is on August 14th, in Calgary, at 6:30pm.  We will be discussing “Stickiness on the Web”.  We spoke together last month and I really enjoy presenting with Stuart.  We are both very excited about the Intenet and how it is impacting business. I think that becomes very clear when you see us interact in this some-what formal “discussion” on the ‘web’.

Click on the …more link to get the full details and learn about the Calgary Entrepreneur Meetup Group. This Group is a great opportunity to network, learn and grow your business!

The Calgary Entrepreneur Meetup Group is the largest and longest running meetup group in Calgary. If you are an entrepreneur, if you would like to become and entrepreneur, or if you want to support entrepreneurs then join us at our next meeting!

Our monthly event is an opportunity for entrepreneurs to get together, mingle and relax. The event is not meant to be a sit down structured event but one where entrepreneurs kick back, network and enjoy themselves.

Cost is $5.00 to attend
You are responsible for your own food bill

Visit our website at http://entrepreneur.meetup.com/5/

Start Time: Thursday, August 14 at 6:30pm
End Time: Thursday, August 14 at 9:30pm
Where: Calgary Coast Plaza Hotel – Horizon’s Restaurant

Hey – why not get Skype now and give me a call?

Cheers -
David A. West

Raise awareness of your business and services through blogging.

Basic strategies:

• Target a specific audience based on a theme or series of topics.
• Try to keep your blog on topic.
• Write subjects that make them want to read more and use catchy headlines to drive intrigue.
• Select the right blog support service. A professional Internet Consultant can help you extend your blog and help you with marketing tips and tricks.
• Ensure your blog sends alerts to blog feeds when you post a new entry, this will help build traffic to your blog.
• Ensure you get alerts when someone comments at your blog so that you can review the post and respond.

Be compelling, open in your views and sincere. Link to other blogs and topics related to your blog. Other bloggers will start linking to you, if you have quality articles.

Keep your blog up to date with fresh content. Weekly blogging or more should be your goal. This will keep your blog content fresh and interesting. Your blog can become sticky and keep people returning… but only if you make an effort.

Search engines like Google and Live will help attract viewers to your blog. Add rich keywords into your article titles and content. Use the SEO component that we install as standard with our blog service to boost your on page optimization for search engines.

Your blog should support RSS feeds for the articles and comments. This will help your readers and fellow bloggers stay up to date with your writing. RSS is simple to use and has gained huge popularity in the past several years.

Take the time to reply to blog posts, even if they are negative or offer a conflicting view. You don’t have to agree with the comment, just be honest and state your opinion or provide support material for you position. Most blog-ware allows you to hold comments for moderation. As a business blogger, you may want to moderate comments at your blog prior to allowing them to go live.

If you are not a writer and are not comfortable with blogging, ask your staff to do it for you. Ask a family member, friend or service to assist you with your writing.

One of the most difficult things about blogging is the “ideas”. Keep a small “blog book”… I call mine “my blook”. Keep your blook handy so that when an idea hits you, you can make a note of it.

Blogging is a powerful tool for small business owners to make their brand recognizable. You should position yourself as the “expert” in your industry. When you have a great blog, full of helpful articles and news, refer your clients to your blog to help answer their questions. They will appreciate the depth of your service and commitment to their needs.

A business marketing website tends to be static. The “sales” message seldom changes and they tend to lack the educational information that people are seeking on the Internet. Business owners are worried that they must give the absolute best impression at their marketing website, and I wouldn’t disagree with this thought. A blog on the other hand is a more casual writing opportunity. Your clients will get to know the people “behind” the company and your relationships can grow.

If you want to start a professional business blog, with a custom design, contact us and my team will help you get rolling.

Regards,
David A. West

I attended Troy White’s full day seminar yesterday, The Wild West Wealth Christmas. Troy hosted the session and brought together a power-house of speakers. The topic was, of course, marketing.

I ended up with four pages of notes. Of which I have distilled half a dozen measurable actions for my company to investigate and test as we move into 2008. I am not going to get into a long diatribe of what my notes contain here, but I will tell you that I feel I got great value from my day with Troy.

Guests included author & publisher Mary Halpen, who nearly brought the room to tears with her heartfelt business and life lessons, Brandon Roe, who spoke to increasing prices without objections, and Doug White, the reported Grandfather of direct marketing.

Troy is planning the 2008 Wild Wealth Summit for early summer. If you own a business or have a direct stake in it’s success through marketing, then keep youe eyes open and watch Wild West Wealth Summit for updates.

Troy – Thank you for a great program.

Cheers,
David A. West