Robert Blaise

Archive for August, 2008

29 Aug, 2008

Use Social Media to Bond With Consumers

Posted by: Blaze In: Marketing

Do you tweet on Twitter? Or network on Ning?

A new and growing array of tongue-twisting tools and technologies is available to help people easily interact and share information online.

While it may be tempting to avoid these obscurely named technologies, there’s good reason for small businesses to learn what they are and how to use them: So-called social media can help small firms to better connect with and market themselves to consumers and others in their industries. And they’re often free.

28 Aug, 2008

Google Suggest Changing Up Keyword Referrers

Posted by: Blaze In: Marketing

Have you ever been stumped in finding the right words to search for? Back when I was planning my wedding, I had a list of wedding songs in mind, but the problem was that I couldn’t remember any of the artist names or song titles. So I started typing into the Google search box parts of the lyrics that I did remember — and like magic, I saw suggestions with the artist name and song titles that I wanted! (I was opted-in to the keyword suggestions Google Labs experiment at the time). At that moment, I was so proud to be working on Google Suggest, a search feature that provides real-time suggestions while you search.

Today we’re excited because Google Suggest will be “graduating” from Labs and available by default on the Google.com homepage. Over the next week, we’ll be rolling this out so that more and more of you will start seeing a list of query suggestions when you start typing into the search box.

27 Aug, 2008

Internet Security Tips

Posted by: Blaze In: Security

You would truly be amazed the number of small business and individuals that continue to fall victim to internet pranksters’ or cybercrimes every day. A recent 2007 study by Consumer Reports estimates that the cost of cybercrime to U.S. consumers at a whooping $7 Billion dollars. Fear not all is lost since most hackers are looking for that “open front door” by following a few simple steps you will be able to ward off these opportunistic cyber pirates of the modern day;

Use anti-virus software.
Chose then protect your password wisely
Watch out for those email attachments
Install a firewall on your computer.
Update security patches for your operating system and web browser.
Log offline when you’re done for the day.
Back up your data.

Tags:

26 Aug, 2008

Elements of a Viral Marketing Strategy

Posted by: Blaze In: Marketing

Accept this fact. Some viral marketing strategies work better than others, and few work as well as the simple Hotmail.com strategy. But below are the six basic elements you hope to include in your strategy. A viral marketing strategy need not contain ALL these elements, but the more elements it embraces, the more powerful the results are likely to be. An effective viral marketing strategy:

1. Gives away products or services
2. Provides for effortless transfer to others
3. Scales easily from small to very large
4. Exploits common motivations and behaviors
5. Utilizes existing communication networks
6. Takes advantage of others’ resources

It would not be wrong for an online entrepreneur to think that an Ecommerce solution is the right answer as far as making their online business more profitable. In fact, many people that have used an Ecommerce solution have found their profits have swollen as a result of using such solutions, and their online businesses have also benefited more as a consequence of using different such solutions. However, it is still necessary that you become knowledgeable about what an Ecommerce solution can offer you and which features is worth laying emphasis on to make your business grow.

Tags:

Consulting

At this current time I am not available for any new consulting assignments however I would still love to hear from you so please feel free to drop me a line or post on the blog.