2008 October | Online Marketing Blog RSS Ray

Archive for October, 2008

Value Based Differences

Thursday, October 30th, 2008

How to use unique value propositions to differentiate your company from your competitors and grow your bottom line.

By RSS Ray

The greatest mistake most companies make in marketing is not clearly communicating to a prospect, “Here’s why you should spend your money with me instead of the other guy.”

Let’s face it…very few of us have no competition. Customers can buy similar products and services from other companies, making it hard for a customer to differentiate buying one product over another or one company versus another.

The way to solve these issues is to clearly define, then consistently communicate what marketers call your “unique selling proposition” or “unique value proposition (UVP).” We prefer the latter and will use that terminology with variations when elaborating on the concept.

To best understand how this concept applies to making sales, let’s first break down and define its various parts:

Unique describes what makes you different from your competitors. It is the characteristics of your services or products that set you apart from other companies in ways customers are willing to pay for.

Value defines for your customers what they get for their money. It is the basic worth your product or service brings to buyers.

Proposition is your offer or suggestion that something be done, considered, accepted or adopted.

Your objective is to combine these elements into powerful yet succinct statements that:

Tell how you are unique in ways that are different from your competitors
Describe how your company brings value to the customer

Your goal is to tell someone why they should buy from you instead of the other guy in about 10 words or less.

A unique value proposition is a reflection of what you actually are from the customer’s point-of-view. No matter how much you wish it or want it to be true, your value proposition is a reflection of what you are. Your UVP must communicate to prospective buyers in ways that are relevant to them.

It’s best to avoid unique value propositions that:

Make claims that others can easily make – lowest prices, friendliest personnel

Make claims that are hard to substantiate prior to purchase – best service, knowledgeable personnel

Are subjective in nature – fastest service, quickest response, best tasting

Talk about qualities of your company or features of your product – family owned and operated, in business for 10 years, etc.

Keep in mind that customers have expectations that are requirements for anyone they shop with and that featuring these requirements as part of your UVP is usually not in your best interests.

When we ask companies why a customer should spend with them, most invariably answer with some variation of “great service.” Great service is certainly a necessity but it’s not unique. It can help you stand out after someone has dealt with your company if problems arise. However, it’s much more important to communicate differences that help you stand out before things get to that point.

And besides, doesn’t everyone claim to have superior customer service?

A strong UVP makes sales for your company. Strong UVP:

Are clear, concise statements
Communicate differences between one product/service/company and others
Are objective or easily verifiable
Communicate real value to a customer
Are things your competitor can’t claim to provide or do
Are what you actually are – not what you say or want to be
Are simple to understand by all in your target market

The best way to develop your unique value propositions is to:

Ask yourself why someone should buy from you instead of the other guy
Listen to buyers and prospects to learn why they bought/didn’t buy
Determine what you can do to provide customer value that others can’t
Emulate best practices of others in non-competing industries

Tags: Marketing, RSS Ray, Selling Strategies, Unique Selling Proposition, Unique Value Proposition, UVP, Value Based Differences
Posted in Branding, Marketing Resources, Online Marketing | No Comments »

RSS Ray to Speak at SEMA Convention in Las Vegas

Thursday, October 30th, 2008

RSS Ray to offer four sessions on online marketing at the SEMA Convention in the Las Vegas Convention Center on November 3rd and 4th.

Next week, RSS Ray is headed to the Las Vegas Convention Center to speak at the 2008 Specialty Equipment Marketing Association (SEMA) show. Over a series of four sessions on November 3rd and 4th, RSS Ray will be discussing gaining high search engine rankings, online marketing tools, marketing in a tough economy, and boosting online sales.

The SEMA Show is the premier automotive specialty products trade event in the world. It draws the industry’s brightest minds and hottest products to one place, the Las Vegas Convention Center. As part of the Automotive Aftermarket Industry Week (AAIW), the SEMA Show attracts more than 120,000 industry leaders from over 100 countries.

If you happen to be attending the convention, be sure to sign up for RSS Ray’s sessions by using the education session planner on SEMA’s Website (you can find him be searching under his off air name Brian Offenberger).

Tags: 2008 SEMA Show, Online Marketing, RSS Ray, SEMA, Specialty Equipment Marketing Association
Posted in Online Marketing, Show Announcements | No Comments »

Get Started Today with Free Live Chat

Wednesday, October 29th, 2008

Velaro Inc. offers live chat software free for 90 days to RSS Ray listeners.

Velaro Today on “Online Marketing with RSS Ray” Velaro Inc. Director of Marketing, Chad Ritchie, announced a very special offer for RSS Ray listeners who want to get started using a live help solution on their website.

As long as you sign up by December 1st, you can get a free 90 day license to use Velaro’s Live Help software on your website by signing up through this link.

There are absolutely no catches to signing up – you don’t even need to provide a credit card number. By entering just a few bits of information you get the complete working version of the live help software, not just a demo copy. You just have to be a new Velaro customer with a website and you can get started increasing your profits with live help today.

The benefits to using live chat and live help on your website are huge. We highly encourage you to take advantage of this free offer before it runs out on December 1st.

Learn more about Velaro’s 90 day free trial.

Tags: eCommerce Marketing, Live Chat, Live Help, Online Chat, Online Sales, Special Offer, Velaro
Posted in Marketing Resources, Ray Recommends, eCommerce Marketing | No Comments »

Preparing for Social Marketing

Tuesday, October 28th, 2008

Everyone seems to be talking about social media these days yet many marketers simply can’t find the time to implement a coherent social marketing strategy. Next week’s guest Dave Evans wants you to get started with social marketing and he has sent us this blog posting to get you started. Dave is the Social Media Strategist and co-founder of Digital Voodoo and also the author of “Social Media: An Hour a Day, a practical, hands-on guide to the implementation and measurement.”

It’s ironic that as a powerful force — the Social Web — is emerging, the overwhelming share of media spending is still directed to marketing channels that don’t tap it. For many marketers, the reality of the job–making quarterly numbers, boosting sales now, or rolling out a new service–push innovation and evaluation of new ideas to the back burner. Most of us know that “social media” is something we ought to be focusing more than a stray brain cell on, yet for whatever reason we don’t. It’s time we did, and even better is to approach this new discipline of social media based marketing in the same way as we’d approach any other marketing program.

Consider that as a marketer, you face a real challenge: Giving up control over your message in order to gain a presence in the conversations that matter to you. For an industry built on the turn of a phrase, that’s reason enough to say to yourself “OK, maybe I’ll work more on this next week.” Of course, like the old “Free Beer Next Week” joke, next week never gets here and as a result the conversation your customers are having about you simply continue…without you. That’s too bad, because if they are saying nice things, you’re missing out on the bump you’d otherwise be able to tap. And if they’re not? Then not only are you missing out, but you’re spending more on promotion (to overcome your less-than-it-might-be reputation) than you need to. You’re missing out on the information needed to understand what to change in order that you might positively influence the conversations going on around you. Doubting the collective wisdom of your customers? Consider these words from the founder of the world’s largest retailer, Sam Walton: “If you have questions, go to the store. Your customer has the answer.” With social media, the “store” will literally come to you and tell you what’s needed.

All of this is not to suggest that you stop doing what you’re doing now and dive head-long into social media. Like any form of marketing, it is the overall integration of selected tactics that generally produces the best result. Social Media is a complement–not a replacement–that belongs in your marketing toolbox. If you haven’t already, take some time and explore the Social Web. Look at what your competitors are doing, and look at the social tools your customers are using. Make it your business to learn about social media and how you can apply it. Above all, do it this week.

Tags: Customer Conversations, Dave Evans, Digital Voodoo, Media Buying, social marketing, Social media
Posted in Guest Articles, Media Buying, Social Media Marketing | No Comments »

Are Free Returns the Competitive Advantage your eCommerce Company Needs?

Thursday, October 23rd, 2008

New Forrester Research study shows how to use your return policy to boost profits and gain market share.

Forrester Research: Crafting a Returns Policy With the economy plummeting, many eCommerce retailers are frantically searching for ways to boost their sales and remain profitable. Many have turned to using sales and other promotions to acquire new customers while many more have resorted to targeting their existing database of customers in an attempt to encourage increased spending from their core customer base.

While both of these methods are responsible for great successes for many online retailers, it is often a case of everybody making the same moves, thus eliminating the competitive advantage that they could provide.

In a recent Forrester Research study commissioned by UPS, researchers suggested a third, often neglected method, for gaining competitive advantage, acquiring new customers, and ensuring customer loyalty. They suggested that by providing a free or subsidized return policy, retailers can build customer trust, encourage increased online spending, and differentiate a company from its competitors.

Four out of every five (81%) people interviewed for the study agreed that they are more likely to buy from a retailer that makes returning products easy and that same percentage also agreed that they were more likely to remain loyal to a company that has a generous return policy. On the other side, seven out of ten (73%) of consumers are less likely to buy again from a company with a difficult return policy.

This suggests that the vast majority of consumers are influenced both to buy from and remain loyal to eCommerce retailers with generous return policies. It is surprising then that the majority of online sellers do not offer return policies that encourage sales or loyalty. The study found that many retailers saw the cost of offering free returns to be too high and instead there was an increased focus on reducing returns altogether.

There are a few companies, such as Zappos and Netflix, which have redefined returns from an evil to be avoided at all costs to something that increases loyalty and boosts profits. They know that returns are an unavoidable reality for online sales because consumers can not touch, feel, or try out products before they buy them. Therefore by demonstrating to customers how easy and inexpensive returns are, these companies have managed to garner a significant competitive advantage.

According to the survey, over half (55.2%) of respondents saw the difficulty of returns and the cost of re-stocking fees to be the biggest problem with online purchases. This is likely because on average, people spend 27 minutes and $7.85 on returning an item they purchased online. It is no surprise that the top frustrations when returning an item are paying for the return and actually going to a shipping carrier. Researchers also found that because of these returning hassles, one-fifth (22%) of consumers have reduced their online spending habits.

On a more positive note, consumers are far more likely to make purchases from retailers who offer flexible return policies across all vertical markets. This trend is particularly noticeable in soft goods where almost nine out of ten (87%) respondents were likely to return to a retailer with a flexible return policy compared to only two out of ten (19%) respondents who were willing to return to a retailer with inflexible returns. Similar results were found for grocery and convenience items, media, other hard goods, and electronics. Consumers were also much more likely to recommend a company with a flexible return policy then one that did not make returns easy (85% compared to 11% for soft goods).

It is also interesting to note that when asked about the importance of free returns compared to free shipping when making a buying decision, the results were almost equal. This means that a company offering free shipping could have equally strong results offering free returns while offering both could allow a company to gain a significant advantage over the competition.

It is clear that offering free returns can have a significant impact on customer loyalty and sales patterns for online retailers. Obviously this will not be the right strategy for all companies, particularly ones that incur high shipping and return costs, but many companies can benefit significantly from being the first to offer this type of deal. Even if some money is lost to increased returns and shipping costs, the benefits of additional referrals, increased customer retention, and overall sales from offering free returns makes it an excellent way to increase market share and overall profits.

Download the Forrester Research study: Crafting a Returns Policy that Creates a Competitive Advantage Online

Tags: Competitive Advantage, Customer Loyalty, eCommerce, Forrester Research, Free Returns, Online Retailers, Return Policy
Posted in Conversion Rate Improvements, Online Marketing Statistics, eCommerce Marketing | No Comments »

Why Hispanic Marketers Need To Consider Mobile

Tuesday, October 21st, 2008

ROJO Managing Director, Cristina Morales, discusses using mobile marketing to target Hispanic consumers.

This week’s guest, Cristina Morales, is a Managing Director at ROJO, a full service Hispanic marketing agency. She is an expert in marketing to the Hispanic community in the United States and is responsible for executing marketing strategies for a number of fortune 500 companies. Take a look at what she has to say about mobile marketing and be be sure to listen to her full interview live this Wednesday at 6 pm EST, 3 pm PST on wsRadio.

Mobile marketing is emerging as a powerful marketing tool for all marketers, but those trying to reach the Hispanic segment should really take note.

While online penetration and general technology adoption among the Hispanic segment lags the general market, the Hispanic segment significantly over-indexes in mobile phone and data usage. A 2007 Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) study found that 75 percent of Hispanic consumers own a mobile phone and use it regularly. They are also much more receptive to mobile marketing messages, particularly coupons, status alerts about accounts, and sweepstakes or contests. The rate of text message usage is also growing dramatically, increasing by 39 percent over the last 12 months, according to a recent M:Metrics study.

Hispanics are also ahead of the curve in active, engaged usage of mobile content, partially due to the fact that in many cases cell phones are serving as replacements for home computers or internet connections. The same MMA study found that this group is more likely to use wireless email, IM, and Bluetooth functionality to download games and to view mobile video. In fact, the Hispanic-focused MTV Tr3s mobile channel posted a 38 percent average monthly growth in video streams from February 2007 to February 2008. And social networking sites like MocoSpace boast a predominantly young Hispanic membership. Hispanic users are also using mobile search more than non-Hispanic users.

Brands across all industries – from lifestyle and consumer brands to financial institutions and automotive providers – have already begun to reach this audience through their handsets, with more surely to come. HipCricket’s new Hispanic mobile marketing network of over 50 radio and TV outlets will give marketers the ability to deliver highly targeted and interactive mobile content directly to opted-in, engaged users both locally and nationally.

Companies such as Proctor & Gamble, IKEA, Coca-Cola, Univision and McDonald’s have all recognized the potential that mobile marketing has to engage this audience and create a loyal customer base.

P&G’s CoverGirl was a premier advertiser in the first entertainment special on Univisionmovil.com, a mobile portal that features breaking news, music, horoscopes, entertainment and youth-oriented content. Univision Movil allows fans to access clips from their favorite Univision shows – bringing the most-watched Spanish-language broadcast TV network to cell phones. According to M:Metrics, 18.8 percent of English-speaking Hispanic subscribers are more inclined to access news and information via a mobile browser, compared to 9.6 percent of all subscribers.

Last year, McDonald’s promoted its Filet O’ Fish sandwich through a cross-channel promotion focusing on SMS short codes and the Hispanic market. Every component of the campaign, from point of purchase and banner ads to packaging, featured mobile aspects instructing customers to send messages to a short code to gain access to free content such as games, wallpapers and ringtones.

Mobile is clearly an essential component of the Hispanic marketing mix, and brands that recognize this market as the sophisticated, fast-growing mobile user segment that it is will surely earn significant brand loyalty.

ROJO is a full-service Hispanic marketing agency focused on strategic consulting, creative development & execution, media planning, mobile, and data analytics.

Tags: Advertising to Hispanics, Cristina Morales, Hispanic Consumers, Hispanic Marketing, Mobile Marketing, ROJO Marketing, RSS Ray
Posted in Guest Articles, Hispanic and Latino Marketing, Mobile Marketing | No Comments »

What You Need to Know About Marketing to US Hispanics

Monday, October 20th, 2008

Online Marketing with RSS Ray and RSSRay.com announces a new episode that you do not want to miss.

Cristina Morales, Managing Director of ROJO Marketing

Show Date: October 22nd, 2008 at 6 pm Eastern, 3 pm Pacific

Show Topic: What You Need to Know About Marketing to US Hispanics

Show Guest: Cristina Morales, Managing Director of ROJO Marketing

How to Listen: Live on wsRadio.com or available by Podcast on iTunes or by RSS Feed.

Guest Biography: Cristina Morales has over 10 years’ multi-cultural marketing and advertising experience working at big-brand-name companies such as Kellogg, Ford Motor Company, Bank of America, and now at ROJO, a division of RED F. At ROJO, Cristina is responsible for developing and executing marketing strategies for fortune 500 companies who want to reach the U.S. Hispanic market.

Sample Questions:

What key values does the Hispanic population hold?

Is it necessary to be Hispanic in order to truly understand and market to the Hispanic market?

How can a non Hispanic marketer attempt to better understand the Hispanic culture and values?

RSS Ray’s Comments: “As the Hispanic population continues to grow in the U.S., it is more important than ever to effectively understand and market to this growingly diverse market segment.” stated RSS Ray, host of “Online Marketing with RSS Ray.”

Tags: Hispanic Culture, Hispanic Marketing, Latino Marketing, Multi-Cultural Marketing
Posted in Guest Announcements, Hispanic and Latino Marketing | No Comments »

Ray Raps…20 Questions with Chad Ritchie

Friday, October 17th, 2008

RSS Ray interviews Velaro Director of Marketing, Chad Ritchie, about how to use live chat for high conversion rates and eCommerce success.

Velaro
RSS Ray recently sat down with Chad Ritchie, the Director of Marketing at Velaro, one of the leaders in live chat technology. Together they discussed how companies are using live chat to increase conversion rates, decrease shopping cart abandonment, and keep customers happy. Check it out:

What is live chat?

Live chat is a software as a service technology that allows companies to interact with website visitors via chat in real-time. These days consumers expect their online shopping experience to provide the same benefits as shopping in the store. If they have questions, eCommerce merchants need to have ability to chat with them immediately. If web site visitors need help with their shopping carts, online retailers must be able to provide real-time assistance.

How does live chat increase online sales?

Live chat allows sales agents to interact with website visitors at critical conversion points. By chatting with potential customers, sales agents can answer questions, up-sell and cross-sell products and services right in the chat. Ultimately keeping the visitor engaged, and focused on why they are visiting your site. Once website visitors lose focus and start to look for contact information or cannot easily find an answer to a question you risk losing them.

What types of businesses benefit from using live chat?

Any business that spends money driving traffic to its website benefits from live chat. Velaro’s customers range from large corporations such as LG, Blue Cross and Blue Shield, to small businesses looking to increase their online conversions.

What benefits can businesses expect from live chat solutions?

Three main benefits are: increased online sales, reduced shopping cart abandonment and improved customer satisfaction.

How are live chat options commonly presented to website visitors and how can you determine what is best for your business?

Live chat is made available via a live chat or a click-to-call button. When a website visitor clicks the button on a website, a chat session is immediately started with a sales agent. Depending on the volume of web traffic a site receives, website owners can opt to show the live chat button to every web site visitor, or only to web site visitors that meet certain criteria. For example, some of our clients have hundreds of thousands of website visitors a month. They only want to show the live chat and click-to-call buttons to visitors that meet certain rules in order to avoid inundating sales staff with too many chats.

Where on websites is it prudent to offer the visitor a live chat option?

Critical conversion points on your website. Be that the shopping cart page, the check out page, or a form page where you are trying to get the customer to interact with your website. The rule of thumb is a web site visitor should never have to leave a critical page try and find answers to questions. You want to keep them engaged and keep their visit as productive and simple as possible.

How can you offer live chat without scaring the customer or giving them the “big brother is watching” type feeling?

It should be an elective element of the website. It’s there if people need it, but never pushed aggressively. You can also offer proactive chats to customers, inviting them to chat with your sales agents. But use discretion. Idle times are a good rule for offering proactive chat invitations. You don’t want to bombard customers with a chat invite 10 seconds after being on a web page. However, if they are idle for a minute, they may be having trouble. An invitation to chat could keep them from getting frustrated and leaving the site altogether.

How does offering live help decrease shopping cart abandonment?

It gives the customer an immediate response to their question or problem. Not only can sales agents immediately respond to questions, they can co-browse with customers, push documents to customers in real-time, and assist the customer in filling out forms. Or to put it another way, customers get the “in store” experience. If a customer goes into a retail store at the mall, you wouldn’t expect them to fill out a form and come back tomorrow if they have a question. But this is exactly what business owners are doing when they force people to use a standard Contact Page on their website. Your customers want to buy, but they have questions. Live chat enables companies to answer those questions and keep the customer shopping.

Is live chat offered to all website visitors or just those meeting a certain criteria?

Both. Some of our small business clients like to interact with every customer who needs assistance. Conversely, some of our larger clients only want live chat or click-to-call available for web site visitors who are on certain pages, or meet certain criteria. Our service allows eCommerce merchants to set up simple rules for deciding if and when live chat is offered.

Can I measure the impacts of my live chat efforts and what kinds of things can I learn?

Absolutely. Velaro is keenly aware that website owners want to be able to track their return on investment. With our Progression Analytics tool we are the only live help company that offers the multi-step conversion tracking. This is an industry first. Progression Analytics allows you to track the path of every website visitor, which paths were successful and which paths were not. So for example, you can easily determine that shoppers who initiated a live chat on a checkout page were 50% more likely to purchase. And our analytics tool is not tied to just chats. You can track multiple sequences of events to see which steps lead to more sales.

Can live help enable me to better track my online marketing campaigns?

Yes. Real-time monitoring comes standard with live help. It allows you to see, in real-time, visitors on your website. It shows where they came from, which keywords they used, geo-location information and marketing campaign information. For example, as the Director of Marketing, I do not take many chats, I leave that to our experience sales team, but I do have Velaro’s real-time monitoring running all day. If I run an online advertisement I can see which of my visitors are coming in from that campaign and how many are buying. I don’t have to wait 24 hours to pull data and sort through reports. Not only that, but I can choose to have our sales team offer proactive invitation to chat to website visitors from certain marketing campaigns and engage a visitor from that campaign. The information is invaluable. Instead of just waiting to see reports, I know who the visitor is, which company they work for, which campaign they are coming from and where they are going on my website. This gives me the complete view into what was once an unknown.

What is commonly done to a website to enable live chat?

Velaro is a completely hosted software solution. It only requires one line of HTML to be placed on any page you want live chat. Our technology uses no applets or plug-ins. Companies can be up and running in as little as thirty minutes, but we encourage them to take advantage of free training and to customize the chat window to look like their brand.

What does the business need to do to support live chat?

You’ll want sales agents staffing the chats. That’s it. And even then, if a company does not have sales agents available to staff chats, we have global staffing firms available to assist web site owners if needed.

What are common mistakes companies make with their live help strategies or tactics?

Not taking the small amount of up front time needed to consider the best ways to make live help successful. Particularly in regard to where and how live help is offered on their websites. And then not enforcing a proper staffing strategy to make sure people are available to answer questions.

What are the common costs a company can expect when offering live help options?

A lot of live help companies will charge set up fees, training fees and then the cost of the actual service. As one of the original live help vendors, Velaro’s seen many live chat companies come and go with the idea it’s fine to charge eCommerce merchants for anything and everything. Velaro uses a simple subscription model. You pay per agent per month and you can cancel anytime. That’s it. No set up fees, training is always included and no support fees. Our clients stay with us for years because they know they are getting a great return on their investment.

There are many companies offering live chat solutions. How can we separate the good from the bad?

There are only a few companies that have been around as long as we have, it’s pretty easy to tell which ones are good choices. First look at the customer list. Any company worth their salt is going to have a long list of recognizable businesses as clients. Second, look at their press releases. The live help market is growing even now in the tough economic climate, because businesses need now, more than ever, to increase their online sales. A good live chat provider will be sending out press releases regularly to keep the media and eCommerce market up to speed. Lastly, try their technology. We offer a 10 day free trial and work with clients who want to try live chat. You should be comfortable with the technology before you are ever asked for payment.

How long does it take a typical company to see bottom line impacts from live chat efforts?

Three months maximum. While live chat can be up and running in a day on your website there are some additional things you want to keep in mind. You’ll want to brand the chat with your corporate look and feel – so website visitors have a seamless transition from your website to a chat. You also want to train your admins and sales agents. Again, while you can start chatting right away, we encourage all our clients to take advantage of the free training. This helps companies learn best practices, and write up pre-made or canned responses to commonly asked questions.

How does your company, Velaro, bring value to customers?

We help our clients increase their conversions, and we do this by keeping their customers happy. Companies are paying thousands of dollars getting traffic to their website, but then what? Some web site visitors buy, some don’t, and at the end of the day you’re left wondering why. We answer that question and provide a solution to interact with web site visitors at critical conversion points on your website, leaving consumers feeling confident in your product offering.

What type of customers do you serve?

Anyone in eCommerce. We have automotive clients, medical clients, retail clients, real-estate clients, travel clients, technology clients, and the government. Anyone selling good or services online benefits from live chat.

Tell us one thing about your company that prospects NEVER ask about but you wish they would.

How does live help, help make their customers happier?

People always come to us looking for ways to increase their sales or reduce their support costs, but seldom realize that both of these benefits are usually a direct result of the fact that live help improves their customer satisfaction rates directly. It has been shown in study after study that live help is consistently the best tool when compared to telephone and e-mail, and that your website visitors end up leaving your site after haven spoke to someone using a web based chat service like Velaro, with a better impression of the company.

Chad Ritchie is an expert in online conversion management. As Marketing Director for Velaro, Inc. Chad helps organizations increase online sales by educating them on the benefits of reaching customers at critical conversion points.

Tags: Conversion Rates, eCommerce Marketing, Live Chat, Online Chat, Online Sales, Ray Raps, Shopping Cart Abandonment, Velaro
Posted in 20 Questions, Ray Raps, eCommerce Marketing | 2 Comments »

Stalwart Communications Selected as RSS Ray’s Exclusive PR Partner

Thursday, October 16th, 2008

Stalwart Communications selected as the Exclusive PR Partner for Online Marketing with RSS Ray.

Since January of 2006 “Online Marketing with RSS Ray” has grown from a start-up radio show to become one of the most popular internet marketing radio shows in the world. We’re committed to taking the show to even greater heights and, as part of that effort, wsRadio.com and RSS Ray have retained a public relations firm to promote the show.

After months of careful research and negotiations, Online Marketing with RSS Ray has chosen Stalwart Communications to represent us as our Exclusive PR Partner.

As our PR Partner, Stalwart Communications will help us to continue to grow our listener base, work with trade shows and expos on behalf of RSS Ray, and to work with show sponsors on joint marketing opportunities.

David Oates is the President of Stalwart Communications and the company is noted for its unique pay-on-performance public relations pricing model. RSS Ray is all about results and accountability and all of us are quite excited about working with David and the team at Stalwart Communications.

Tags: Internet Marketing Podcasts, Internet Marketing Radio Shows, Online Marketing, Online Marketing with RSS Ray, Pay-on-Performance Public Relations, RSS Ray, Stalwart Communications
Posted in About the Show | No Comments »

Vindictive, Evil, and Knows How to Use the Internet

Thursday, October 16th, 2008

How to manage your business reputation and protect your security online.

The greatest long-term security threats to most businesses come from people who are vindictive, evil and know how to use the internet.

These people can destroy your business reputation with a few keystrokes, generating negative search engine rankings and online reviews. They can alter business records and your own personal identity.

These people often feel “wronged” and are on a mission of redemption.

Ask any lawyer…the crimes against business today that do the most damage occur online, most often to the reputation of the business in question.

Last week at one of the country’s leading conferences and expos about online selling, I moderated a panel conversation about how to protect your business reputation in the internet era. The session was titled, “Reputation Management on the Wild, Wild Web.” The assembled panel of experts shared tale after tale of businesses large and small that had their reputations trashed via the internet.

Here’s what the experts agreed is the best course of action you can take to manage your business reputation on the web:

Be a good corporate citizen – treat others as you wish to be treated and most often you’ll avoid problems.

Avoid litigation – litigation creates lots of documents that are part of the public record and this information will become results in search engine rankings about your company and key search terms relevant to your business.

Protect your passwords and personal information – only release your personal information to secure sources with clear policies concerning how they will use your information.

Change your passwords – it’s recommended that you change personal passwords at least once a quarter and use password combinations of capital and lower case letters with numbers for maximum protection.

Monitor the conversations – use tools like Google Alerts to track what’s being said about you and your company. A quick response to negative comments and information can make all the difference.

With blogs, forums, MySpace, reviews, and other forms of user generated content, it’s more important than ever to monitor your business reputation on the web. Keep listening to our internet marketing podcasts and radio show for more on online reputation management.

Tags: Business Reputation Management, Online Reputation Management, reputation management
Posted in Competitive Intelligence | No Comments »

Must Identify Yourself to Comment on Blog Postings

Thursday, October 16th, 2008

RSS Ray will no longer allow anonymous comments on this blog.

We love your comments to items posted on our blog.

We love them so much in fact that we want to know the source of the idea. That’s why we will no longer allow anonymous comments to be placed on our blog. If you have something to say we want to hear it. We also just want to know where the comment came from.

Speak out, be heard and be known!

Tags: Anonymous Posts, Blogging, RSS Ray
Posted in Ray Rants, Show Announcements | No Comments »

Google in 2001

Wednesday, October 15th, 2008

Take a look back in time at the Google search engine the way it was back in 2001.

In honor of its 10th anniversary Google turns back the clock, giving you a chance to see the web through Google’s eyes the way it was back in 2001. Search for your competitors; check out people you know, look for today’s pop culture icons like McCain, Obama, Brittney, Facebook and more.

It’s a pretty neat look back in time. It will also give you an idea into the advancements made with web marketing and search engine marketing. Check out the 2001 Google search engine and let us know what you think.

Tags: 2001, 2001 search engines, Google, Google 10th anniversary, Google in 2001, Search Engines
Posted in Marketing Resources | No Comments »

Live Chat Company Comparison Study

Saturday, October 11th, 2008

Many online marketers have realized the tremendous value in conversion improvements and customer satisfaction by offering site visitors live chat services.

A new study was done recently doing side by side comparisons of 6 different live chat solution providers. Companies were compared by features sets, flexibility/customization, availability/reliability, price, analytics, reporting and more.

Companies compared in the study include BoldChat, InstantService, LivePerson, Talisma, Velaro, and WhosOn.

You may find the study useful to you in selecting a live chat provider. Check out the study details at http://www.livechatcomparison.com/.

Tags: BoldChat, InstantService, Live Chat, live chat comparisons, live chat studies, LivePerson, Talisma, Velaro, WhosOn
Posted in About the Show, Conversion Rate Improvements, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) | 5 Comments »

Archive for October, 2008

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