Google has already been approved as a FedRAMP launch vendor, and now has submitted its final materials to certify its government-specific cloud. Google is working to get certified by the U.S. Government to be able to take care of all email, interdocument transfer and other office tools.

This is a huge move for google. Currently they have started moving into the public sector of local government too. Among the government customers Google already has for Google Apps are the city of Los Angeles and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. However, Google remains locked in a battle for customers with other providers like Microsoft, as shown by the fact that the University of Arizona, a Google Apps customer, recently signed a deal to become a customer of Microsoft’s Business Productivity Online Suite.

We know that as of this posting google has more than 100 government agencies that are using their tools.

Way to GO GOOGLE!!!!

Technorati Tags: business productivity, google apps, government customers

Display advertisements are synergistic with paid and organic searches, increasing click rates by a 155% average.  This is in accordance with a study by Specific Media.

Across many different types of industry categories, Specific Media found that display advertising provided a significant boost to search engine click rates and even found that it affected the keywords that were entered. 

The largest increase in click rates on paid and organic search due to display advertising is in the” travel and tourism” category, at 274%.

The lowest increase came in at 22% for the “consumer packaged goods” category.

For more details on the increase in search engine click rates due to display advertising, click here.

Technorati Tags: advertisements, click rates, display advertising, search, search engines

In previous posts I have discussed the choice between using a shotgun and a rifle, and how depending upon your business either could work. For those that don’t know the difference a rifle shoots a single bullet in a single path, a shotgun shoots many pellets in an ever widening path to the target. A rifle is exact, but there is a larger chance that you might miss. While a shotgun increases the chances that you’ll hit the target, the penetration of the pellets isn’t as deep. How about using many rifles at once? The only marketplace where this makes sense is on the internet, any other advertising medium would cost too much.

In Chris Anderson’s book, The Long Tail, he explains how the internet caters to niche markets and communities. He also discusses the fact that big online businesses have taken advantage of the niche markets that were “too small” and these niches have become a major portion of their businesses. Think about it, online, people can find the most random stuff—sure the popular stuff is still there, but so is a whole bunch of stuff that you can’t find in any store. Read more of Chris Anderson’s stuff at www.thelongtail.com .

If I am not selling a product or service that has mass appeal, but I can aggregate enough niches together, I’ll still be able to sell in high volumes.

So how do I do this?

Well, it takes quite a bit of work. I look at the possibilities, narrow it down to those niches that are most likely to enjoy my product or service, and then examine what modifications I need to make to make my product or service attractive to that particular niche. Then I pick a couple of niches that are prime targets and don’t require a lot of modification to my business to facilitate that new business. I’ll find the right mixes that work, and then I’ll start with modifications once I know it is worth doing. I’ll look at the marketing materials and campaigns, the look and feel of the website/landing page, the pricing strategy, and what modifications to the product or service will make it more palatable.

It can be a lot of work, but many companies have proven that the business model is effective in the online world. The result will be exact campaigns with an increased number of sales.

Technorati Tags: campaigns, chris anderson, niche markets, Online Advertising, prime targets, targeting

Love that Game!

Much is made of targeting customers, of zeroing in on the places they go, their methods of gaining information, who their friends are, and the best methods to reach them. Once I find my target (that can be a single customer), I research how they were found, then I want to find more of them (friends), and I want to get their friends. It is a lot like hunting really. Am I more likely to find a duck in the city or at a pond? If I find one, will that one lead me to more? What time of year is it? Why are they in that area? Should you use a rifle or a shotgun? These few questions have helped me to create ‘killer’ ad campaigns.

Am I more likely to find a duck in the city or at a pond?

Well, what about a pond in a city? Yeah, I could find ducks there as well, but I might get arrested trying to shoot one. Seriously though, I pay attention to places that aren’t so obvious when hunting for customers. This is an area that is often missed when businesses are too tightly defining their “target”. I often need to use a different message or campaign in order to find them though. The great thing about internet marketing is that more needles can be found much more efficiently. The internet does a phenomenal job of aggregating customers in niche locations.

Will one duck lead me to more?

Absolutely, but I must try to find out why the duck was there and if that location is likely to have more. Otherwise I may have just gotten lucky in finding the duck, and am not likely to find others there. Regardless, I still follow that duck, until he leads me to his friends—happy hunting.

What time of year is it? Why are they there?

This is important, because in a month they may not be there. I pay attention to trends and the environment so that tactics can be adjusted to the season. For example, a customer base is exclusively male, and it is November, why would you want to put together a campaign for females? Well, because they are buying presents for a lot of the males you target.

Rifle or shotgun?

For a duck? A shotgun, of course. But in reality it depends upon your business. Some people tend to use a rifle when they might want to consider a shotgun, and vice versa. Don’t get too caught up with one method, experiment a little. Don’t get too focused, yet try not to lose your focus.

There is not perfect, sure-fire method when it comes to advertising, but these are questions that should be evaluated frequently. Especially in online advertising—it is a different beast.

Technorati Tags: internet marketing, killer ad campaigns, niche, target, Targeting Customers

I understand the thought process and the simplicity of just paying for ads. Exchanging ads is a bit archaic, a bit of a throwback to the days of bartering. People used to exchange what they had in excess for what others had in excess—milk for wheat, wheat for wool, and even cows for wives, etc. Over time there was a migration from trading to the use of currency. Currency makes transactions simpler, faster, and more efficient…as long as there is plenty of cash to go around. When cash is tight, people get a little more creative.

Tough economic times are good for everyone involved, even though it doesn’t seem like it sometimes (I don’t wish them on anyone…well, maybe I do). Difficult financial times spark a new level of creativity, once you get yourself out of depression. Financial stress forces people to get back to basics and make better use of the things they’ve been given: talents, abilities, relationships, and assets.

A business’ website is an asset, often times a much underutilized asset. Traditionally, smaller websites are used only to help market the goods and services that the business is offering. However, through the Ad Exchange Program, we are helping business owners with websites of all sizes better utilize their website and grow their business. We are helping smaller guys use their website to monetize their website and generate free advertising to drive more traffic to their site and increase revenues. The larger sites, those with more traffic, already perhaps have advertisers on their site—however they know that it is difficult to monetize their site below the “fold”. With our system they are able to take advantage of the real estate below the fold and put it to good use.

I love the fact that this ad exchange program is set up to help businesses of all sizes get more exposure without having to increase their budgets. And if they do want to buy advertising, they will do it once they know they have a campaign that will deliver the desired ROI. Through good times and bad, we’ll be able to help businesses grow.

Technorati Tags: business owners, business website, economic times, exchange ads, exchanging ads, free advertising, roi

Big Money. Come on, Big Money!

Many business owners that I have spoken with view advertising is often looked at as a necessary evil…something they know that they have to do, but there is inherent risk…sometimes the ad campaign works (or they think it does)…sometimes it doesn’t (or at least it seems that it didn’t).  Either way it is often hard to quantify the returns–sometimes other factors cause business to go up or down regardless of the ad campaign, and the business owner has no clue. 

Even amongst advertising professionals, there are differing opinions as to what gets results–ROI. I have found it to be tricky to get the right medium, the right message, the right promotion, in a way that hits the right audience in the right way.  I have been wrong, more than I have been right with ad campaigns, just like anyone else who has done a lot of advertising.  In traditional advertising they have all of their standardized methods of calculating the “value” that has been delivered, but it is all rediculous.

In online advertising and marketing, it is different.  Everthing can be tracked–impressions, “views” (we’ll talk about this more later), clicks, leads, sales, registrations, subscriptions–they all can be tied back to the campaign, the website that the ad was on, and much more.  With all of the measurements out there, I just have to find the best measurement for a specific campaign and business.  I pay per lead on some campaigns with certain businesses, pay per acquisition on others, and views on still others.  With things tightening, I tend to go more with the per lead and per acquisition more often than not.

The other beautiful thing about online advertisements is that if something isn’t working, I can change it.  I can make changes quickly at little to no cost.  That cannot be said for a billboard, tv commercial, or other traditional media.

With the Ad Exchange Program, I use my exchanged “views” to try out new concepts, sometimes I roll out a few at a time.  Then after I can see the performance, I make adjustments or drop the campaign.  When I have a winner, I buy more ads than the ones I earned through the exchange, and sometimes use the campaign in traditional media.

The most exciting part of it all is that I am able to know my ROI before I invest advertising dollars.

Technorati Tags: ad campaigns, business owner, business owners, campaign works, Online Advertising, roi, traditional advertising, view advertising