Although it seems like only yesterday that Jason Faber joined WebFuel as our Social Media Strategist, it has been over three and a half years! Where does the time go?

Jason started working with WebFuel as our go-to blogger while he was still studying at Bishops University and working as their Social Media Manager. Upon graduation he joined WebFuel full-time and has played an invaluable role in helping the company grow, driving our Social Media efforts, building our brand and being the face of WebFuel at dozens of events in Ottawa, Montreal and Toronto.

“Working at WebFuel has been a fantastic and fulfilling experience for me from day one,” says Jason. “Straight out of university I’ve been able to participate, contribute and have a real say in the growth of a company that I greatly respect – not just for the outstanding work they do in search but also for the ethical way they do it. The team at WebFuel has given me so many wonderful opportunities to work with great clients, contribute to great community causes as well as continually learn and enhance my search, social media, business and writing skills.”

While we are saying goodbye to Jason Faber today, we know that he will always be a big part of WebFuel and wish him all the best in the next chapter of his career.

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Saying A Fond Farewell To Jason Faber is a post from: SEO Ottawa | Search Engine Optimization and Internet Marketing Agency | WebFuel

That’s why here at WebFuel, December is Giving Back Month.

“Giving Back” Month is all about using Social Media for Social Good. We believe that Social Media is an incredible tool that can be used for much more than sharing photos of last weekend’s party on Facebook or Tweeting about your lunch. It can be used to share a story. To increase awareness. To influence the community around you. To raise money. Its reach, power, and versatility are incredible, and when used the right way, can change the world.

So this December, we are going to use our Social Media for Social Good. What does this mean? We will be using our Social Media networks and influence to promote local and national charities. Are you involved with a charity that could use a boost this holiday season? Contact us to learn more about how we can help you recruit volunteers, promote an event, raise money or anything to support you this month.

Furthermore, we have invited a group of guest bloggers from local and national charities to tell us how they have used their Social Media for Social Good! Stay tuned, they will be posted throughout the month.

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Giving Back Month: Using Social Media for Social Good is a post from: SEO Ottawa | Search Engine Optimization and Internet Marketing Agency | WebFuel

Thinking about this impressive and diverse lineup on my train ride into Toronto excites me, and I begin reading Seth Godin’s The Purple Cow for the second time in anticipation.

I arrive at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre shortly after 8am on this cold Tuesday morning to find hundreds of other marketers and salespeople eager to begin the day’s events. First up, Barbara Corcoran to talk about Sales Success and Personal Branding.

Barbara Corcoran

Real estate mogul and super sales woman Barbarara Corcoran takes the stage in a full yellow outfit, dancing Ellen style. Her energy gets the early morning crowd excited. Her topic of the day: Personal Branding. As she tells us her life story of New Jersey rags to New York City riches, Corcoran offers advice and lessons along the way. First, she stresses that perception creates reality. If you create the perception of success, and are confident with it, it will become a reality. Lesson 2 from Corcoran was that everybody wants what everybody else wants. Create demand, limit supply, and increase the price. Speaking like a true saleswoman. Next she tells us that you should always expand before you’re ready. It will act as a motivator for you to grow and succeed. She follows this by ruthlessly advising us to “Shoot the dogs early”. Give you employees clear objectives, provide support and then review after 3 months – and then cut the bottom 25%. “Complainers are toxic” she warns “They can bring down a whole team of positive leaders. Find them, and get rid of them.” Her next tip: know your strengths and your weaknesses – and then find someone who is amazing at all the things you’re bad at. She continues by discussing how competition and personal recognition are better motivators than money. Don’t grind your employees down too much. Hard work and competition is important, but fun is vital. Ensure that you foster a fun environment for your employees because fun leads to relaxation and relaxation leads to creativity.

Seth Godin

Next up is one of my favourite authors, speakers, bloggers and marketers: Seth Godin. To be honest, I consider the man a genius. Godin begins by talking about the great salesmen of our generation – Zig Zigglar, Steve Jobs, Richard Branson and even Don Draper. He says that guys like this changed how we sell. Sales used to be about 3 things: The transfer of information, transfer of brand and transfer of emotion. Today, we have the Internet. 80% of people that walk into a car dealership already know everything they want to know about a car. Transfer of information is no longer the duty of the salesperson. Neither is the transfer of brand. In a world where more is better, consumers are flooded with products. Have you developed an emotional attachment with your customers? If one day your product disappeared, would they notice? The record industry used to be perfect. Today there are more people listening to more music than ever before, but the industry is dying. We are seeing a revolution as big as we have ever seen before. Interruption marketing is done, today it is all about permission marketing. Are people expecting you message? Or are you springing it upon them?

Godin continues by delving into his well-known theory of Tribes. People like doing things with others. They don’t like to be average, but they also don’t like to be alone. Nike invented this theory of “tribes”. Before Nike, the long distance runner didn’t exist, really. But today there are literally millions of them. “The Beatles didn’t invent teenagers, they just showed up to lead them.” Godin says.”They did so by creating something new, something different. By creating art.” There are people out there waiting for you to lead them. Are you being boring? Are you following a script, or are you making your own map? Are you being an artist? “What is your Sgt Pepper?” Godin asks, referring to The Beatles.

In an online world, competence is no longer a scarce commodity. We all have access to the same information. For decades our education system has trained students to memorize. We have lost the ability to solve interesting problems. Go figure out something that no one has figured out before. People say that “failure is not an option” becuase they are afraid of it. By failing, you learn and get better at what you do. Don’t be afraid to take a chance on something.

“In times of radical change, the only people that win are the ones that are willing to do revolutionary acts” Godin says “What we need is for you to lead us. I hope you’ll do that.”

As always, Godin was thought provoking, motivating and inspirational. I highly recommend you go see him speak if given the opportunity, or read any one of his amazing best-sellers.

Keith Ferrazzi

Keith Ferrazzi is an expert in the field of building, and foster relationships and using them effectively. His outgoing nature and positivity captivates the crowd. He begins by talking about our reptilian brain, the part fo the human brains where fear comes from. The part that tells us we are not good enough or that we are going to fail. In today’s world, you are no longer selling a product – you are selling solutions to problems. Build your relationships early, and often. Ferrazzi praises tools such as LinkedIn to do so. Ferrazzi asks the crowd “Who has a to-do list?” Virtually everyone. “Okay, now who has a Personal Relationship list?” No one. Ferrzzi explains that you should keep a list of 5-10 people that you want to meet or get to know at all times.

Keith goes on to share with us his list of 7 missions to master relationships.

• Mission 1: Always ask who, no matter what the goal
• Mission 2: Prioritize your relationships. Are they very close to you, acquaintances, tarnished relationships? How can you leverage them?
• Mission 3: Expand your currency and do your homework. Make a connection right off the bat, and move forward from there.
• Mission 4: Skip over your prejudgement of people and find a way to care
• Mission 5: Build, develop, foster and grow your lifelong relationshi[ps
• Mission 6: Build your brand using Social tools such as LinkedIn, Google+, Facebook, Twitter, etc.
• Mission 7: Lead with generosity – sometimes the pinnacle of generosity is letting someone else help you.

Sally Hogshead

Sally is another positive upbeat presenter who captivated, and most importantly fascinated the crowd. And that’s what Sally spoke about – being fascinating. She explains that it is something that you are born with, not something you learn. You simply have to unlearn being boring. Your brain is hardwired to fascinate, and is hardwired to be fascinated. Fascination requires an intense emotional focus. It doesn’t matter that you are the best at something, if nobody notices you, if you are not fascinating them, then no one will care. The Internet has diminished our attention span as humans from about 2 minutes to 9 seconds. “Yes, we are all goldfish” she jokes. So that means that you have 9 seconds to make an impact, to be fascinating. “In marketing, stand out or don’t bother” she exclaims. “Boring messages just don’t waste money, but they hurt your brand. You can either innovate, or you can be comfortable. You can’t do both.”

Hogshead then delves into the seven ways that you can captivate and fascinate someone.

1. Power is all about authority and control
2. Passion is about connecting through emotion
3. Mystique is about arousing curiosity
4. Prestige is about increasing respect
5. Alarm is about highlighting the negatives by creating urgency
6. Rebellion is about taking the status quo, and turning it to find a different way to interpret the facts
7. Trust operates differently than the other six becuase they can be performed instantly, but trust takes time and effort and care.

Jerry Greenfield
The final speaker fo the day was Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream co-founder Jerry Greenfield. Mr. Greenfield, a very pleasant and soft spoken man, told the story of how he and his old friend Ben stumbled into the Ice Cream business, and the challenges they faced along the way. The two rebellious non-students loved food and found a niche in the college town of Burlington Vermont. An admitted “hippy”, Greenfield discussed their strategy and emotions as they became businessmen, something that they despised growing up. They didn’t want to become just another cog in the economic machine. That’s where Ben and Jerry’s corporate responsibility came in. “We’re not about making money for ourselves” Greenfield says “Yes we have been successful, but we made the most effort to share that success with our community.

Greenfield tells a charming story that ended up defining the Ice Cream company in today’s society. When they will still relatively small in the mid-1970s, Ben and Jerry’s had just been picked up by a few larger distributers in New England. One day their largest distributer came to them with some grim news. Pillsbury, who owned Haagen Dazs (the world’s largest ice cream brand) told them that if they did not stop carrying Ben and Jerry’s that they would drop them. Fiscally, the distributer had to listen to Pillsbury, despite the fact that they loved Ben and Jerry’s. The team laughed at this, and wondered why this food giant was scared of two hippies out of Vermont, and in true hippy form they protested. They started a campaign called “What is the Dough Boy Afraid of?. They printed this on tshirts which they sold for $10 a piece, on their ice cream containers, flew it behind banner planes, etc. It became somewhat of a viral campaign, similar to Wendy’s “Where’s the Beef?” It proved wildly successful and eventually Haagen Dazs backed down. Greenfield says that was the moment they knew that they were doing something special. Make an amazing product, put your face on it, support your community and be transparent. That is how you become successful.

All in all it was a great day full of inspiration and takeaways. I left The Art of Sales with many questions and thoughts as I walked into the cold Toronto streets. I’m looking forward to applying many of these skills and tactics as well as reading all of the amazing books published by these accomplished authors.

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The Art of Sales Toronto Recap is a post from: SEO Ottawa | Search Engine Optimization and Internet Marketing Agency | WebFuel

Guest Post by James Katz

As commerce over the Internet gains momentum, the economic value of Domain Names will continue to increase. This economic value is derived from the Domain Name owner’s exclusive right to direct traffic to that Domain Name’s corresponding website, to exclude anyone else from using the same Domain Name, and from the fact that no one else can register the same Domain Name at the same time. Put another way, Domain Names have economic value due to their desirability (i.e. their ability to help guide traffic to their owner’s Internet site) and their scarcity (no two Domain Names in the same registry system are identical). It is because of this recognized economic value and the rights given to Domain Name owner’s that Canadian Court’s have recently confirmed what most businesses with a presence on the Internet already knew: that Domain Names are a form of personal property, and as such, can be used, managed and leveraged like any other asset of a business.

Like other types of personal property, Domain Names are often the subject of ownership disputes between parties. A cost effective and quick way for a complainant to seek redress is to rely on the private arbitration systems put in place by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (“ICANN”), which regulated the popular dot-com, dot-org, dot-net, dot-info and other registry systems, or the Canadian Internet Registration Authority (“CIRA”), which administers Canada’s own dot-ca system. In all cases, owners of Domain Names (termed “registrants”) are required, as a condition of ownership of the Domain Name, to submit to and be bound by these dispute resolution processes.

As alluded to in my blog post back in August, CIRA’s dispute resolution policy was recently amended to more closely mirror that of ICANN’s policy. So, since August of this year, both dispute resolution policies can now be used to cancel or transfer the registration of Internet Domain Names that a complaining party successfully proves were registered in bad faith. Under both systems, in order for a complainant to succeed, it must prove a) that it has rights in and to the trade-name or trade-mark that comprises the Domain Name at issue; b) that the offending Domain Name is confusingly similar or identical to the complainant’s trade-name or trade-mark; c) that the registrant of the offending Domain Name has no legitimate interest in the Domain Name; and d) that the registration of the offending Domain Name was done in bad faith.

The threshold element for exerting ownership over a Domain Name is demonstrating to the arbitration panel that you have acquired and maintained trade-mark rights in the words that make up the Domain Name itself. This means that you will have to prove that the words that you are seeking a monopoly over act to distinguish your business’ wares and services from those of others in the marketplace. In Canada this is most easily accomplished by registering your trade-marks with the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO). Once a business has a registered trade-mark, the registration acts as prima facie proof that the trade-mark in question is valid, and is the property of the registered owner.

Although registration of a trade-mark is not a prerequisite to being successful in a Domain Name dispute, proving that you have acquired “common law” trade-mark rights will require that you, as the complainant, file additional evidence, such as proof of sales and other sensitive business information, with the adjudicating body.  This will also add to the time and expense required to make out your claim, which will far outweigh the fairly low cost of obtaining and maintaining a registered Canadian Trade-Mark.

The lesson is therefore clear:  if you are serious about properly controlling your business’ Internet presence, you should, at the very least, register your business name as a trade-mark in Canada.  Even with only a Canadian Registered Trade-Mark you will be more easily able to secure ownership over a confusingly similar Domain Name held by persons in other countries.

It also goes without saying that protecting your online presence should also include purchasing all available Domain Names that are, either by how they are sounded or appear, closely resemble your trade-name or trade-mark.  Given that Domain Names can often be secured for a nominal fee, there really is no downside to putting this type of protection in place as soon as you contemplate an online business presence.

One final note on this topic: using the dispute resolution procedures set out by either CIRA or ICANN is not your only remedy should you have a Domain Name dispute.  Depending on the facts of a given case, the Superior Courts of the provinces (such as the Ontario Superior Court of Justice) will adjudicate Domain Name disputes, just as the Courts will adjudicate over any other dispute concerning property.  In fact both CIRA and ICANN policies allow for this to take place, and those organizations will defer to the judgment of the Court.  The major drawback to initiating Court proceedings to rule on a Domain Name ownership issue is the higher cost associated with launching a Court action (relative to proceeding under CIRA’s or ICANN’s policies), the length of time it takes to achieve a result (often many months or years), and the danger of having to pay the other side’s legal costs should your claim be rejected by the Court.

In closing, unlocking your online business potential includes understanding the ownership rights and potential of your Domain Name, so that, if needed, you can properly exert those rights in order to protect your online business presence.

James Katz is a lawyer with the Ottawa law firm BrazeauSeller LLP. His practice focuses primarily on Internet, Social Media and Trade-Marks law.

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Domain Name Disputes: From a Canadian Perspective is a post from: SEO Ottawa | Search Engine Optimization and Internet Marketing Agency | WebFuel

As the Search Strategist for WebFuel, I respond to the company’s SEO inquires and unfortunately hear many horror stories. As a result, I work more and more on resolving serious Search issues on behalf of newly acquired clients. Most of the time, what has been done from a SEO perspective (previous to hiring us) is a mystery. So…. like a Search Detective, I work to solve the case.

Here are the top most startling Search issues.

1. Not in the Google Index (at all)
   This sadly happens too often. We have had to resolve this type of Search issue more than any other – and it is serious. The most common reason is that the client did not have a Search Engine Friendly website built. In other words, the Search Engines cannot crawl their site. This means no indexation – and they will NOT show up in a Google SERP (Search Engine Results Page). You should hear the client’s blood curdling scream when this is brought to light.

2. Disappearing from Organic Search
   This is horrifying!!! One day key high-ranking web pages, or even worse, an entire website, no longer appears in Google SERPs. And… even more terrifying, this is often not noticed for quite a while as no one is even monitoring this.

3. Wrong Geographic Area (not your target location)
   Yikes!!! We see many variations of this frightening issue. Canadian businesses targeting the United States – Google.com but appearing in Google Canada (Google.ca). This requires lots of expertise to resolve (not simply hiring an American SEO Agency). Or… equally disastrous, Canadian companies whereby the target location is Canada – and Google displays their search results in the USA on Google.com. At the local level, Search Engine repositioning is required due to wrong city (i.e. Nepean Search rather than an Ottawa Search) or not entire geo-graphic region (i.e. province).

4. Stolen Web Traffic(that should belong to you)
   This issue is rarely known by the website owner (how chilling) – and only discovered when we audit the account. The most popular perpetrators are the client’s competitors (or the agency that was hired by the competitor), the business themselves (due to a poor online strategy) – and the worst violation, in my opinion, a third party supplier for the client. We have seen a huge increase in this type of scenario over the past year. The 3^rdparty vendor steals (and some are big well-known brands) your web traffic in order to improve their results on your behalf.

5. Bad SEO (Black Hat Techniques)
   Call it bad SEO practices or unethical standards it’s quickly becoming the norm (now that is scary). In our SEO Audits, we have discovered keyword stuffing, hidden text, duplicate content, cloaking, doorway pages, improper use of redirects and extremely questionable linking strategies – including invisible links on a page and inbound links from bad neighbourhoods (how creepy!!!).
   This is mostly due to the inexperience of the Search Engine Optimizer and simply not understanding the complexly of SEO.  But we also see many cases whereby the SEO strategy is based on intentionally “tricking” the Search Engines. This is known as “Black Hat” techniques. The real horrifying story here is businesses most don’t know that they have hired a Black Hat SEO Agency.

6. Keywords Scams, Myths & Issues
   This list is endless… SEOs selling organic keywords “you can buy these two”, rank for keywords that no one searches for, translating researched keywords from English into French (this doesn’t work) or hiring an agency that also works for your keyword competitors (no non-compete clause or they don’t honour it).

7. Google Ban (Organic & Paid)
   This is the worst horror story from our perspective. Not adhering to, or in compliance with AdWords policies resulting in a permanently suspended account. Yes – this means no Ads on Google. Or likely an even worse nightmare, violating Google Webmaster Guidelines – and getting banned from Organic Search. As a result, your website no longer appears for branded & non-branded keywords. You are now invisible in a Search!

Got your own SEO horror stories? Please share your chilling tales.

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SEO Horror Stories: From a Canadian Perspective is a post from: SEO Ottawa | Search Engine Optimization and Internet Marketing Agency | WebFuel

According to Matt, there are plenty of good SEOs out there (also known as White Hat SEO). He explains that Search Engine Optimization basically means trying to make sure that “your pages are well represented within Search Engines”. He also acknowledges that are plenty of “White Hat” SEO strategies that can be implemented. They include helping out with the initial site architecture, URL structure, making sure the website is crawlable, finding the right keywords, ensuring fast website speed and optimizing content to convert.

He did add that there are bad SEOs out there, known as Black Hat SEOs that can produce web spam. Unfortunately for our industry, this is true.

Here is Google’s first video on the topic: Does Google Consider SEO to be spam?

And… just in case you are wondering, WebFuel is an ethical SEO agency.
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Google Says Ethical SEO is Not Spam is a post from: SEO Ottawa | Search Engine Optimization and Internet Marketing Agency | WebFuel

Delaney Turner, originally from the radio world, now works with IBM as their Social Business Strategist. He commences his presentation with an up-beat video celebrating IBM’s centennial. Delaney talks about how IBM is evolving into a Social business while keeping their core competencies of intelligence and the emphasis on thinking. He claims that they are much more dynamic and entrepreneurial than most people believe. He even references some mock acronym meanings that people have associated with IBM, such as “I Block Momentum”. Turner ensures us that this is definitely not the case. “Our world is becoming smarter – it is now instrumented, interconnected and intelligent” says Turner.

IBM began their internal social movement back in 2003 with a board called ValueJam which they crowd sourced behind the firewall. From there, they continued to grow socially. They understand that Social Media is like any other new technology. He gives the example of the phone. Don’t restrict it. Allow people to learn, discover and use it efficiently. If you treat people like adults and give them autonomy, they are more likely to use the tool responsibly.

Turner goes on to talk about the limitations of email, and how it is inefficient, and in a way, anti-social. “Email is where information goes to die” Turner says. It is a closed, limited and siloed was of storing and sharing information. Instead, IBM has integrated Social into everything they do. Every morning they have meetings with all of their brands and subject matter experts to strategize how to use Social more effectively.

Next, Turner explains the value of blogging. He says that through blogging, IBM employees have been able to create an enormous amount of buzz and awareness by increasing social interactions and ranking higher in search results for specified keywords. Given the tools and autonomy, IBM employees have been able to share their expertise and capitalize on the power of the Social space. Today, not a single campaign or event goes out the door without a huge social component.

These are some of the things that are making IBM an Social Business. There is an important distinction between Social Media and Social Business. “It’s not just having a Facebook Page for your brand.” says Turner, “A Social Business embraces networks of people to create business value. It is engaged, transparent and nimble.” In order to encourage social integration into everyday business at IBM, they implemented education resources for employees interested in engaging with Social Media. Provide them with the tools to do the job and you will see results.

Despite their efforts, IBM still has some challenges when it comes to Social. Do these efforts lead to more sales? How do we effective measure the ROI of all this? As a global company, how do we approach Social across different languages? What is our strategy for dealing with negative feedback?

This morning’s talk was very interesting and thought provoking. I left the event with a flurry of thoughts and questions in my mind.

Thanks to Delaney Turner of IBM, the organizers, The Great Canadian Theatre Company, Cara Rowlands for her incredible muffins and to all of the attendees a for making this another very successful Social Media Breakfast. Stay tuned for the next Social Media Breakfast Ottawa on November 23rd with Sean MacPhedran. I hope to see you there!

You can follow Delaney Turner on Twitter at @DTurnerBlogs and at @IBMSoftware.

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Social Media Breakfast Ottawa 25 Recap: Delaney Turner is a post from: SEO Ottawa | Search Engine Optimization and Internet Marketing Agency | WebFuel

Last night marked the inaugural SEMPO Ottawa Meetup at The Hard Rock Cafe in the Byward Market. Dozens of Ottawa area marketing professionals and students gathered for a night of networking, education and discussion. WebFuel in association with McGill Buckley and SEMPO Ottawa hosted Google Canada’s Agency Lead Nectarios Economakis who spoke about the emergence of Mobile Marketing and why it’s still not too late to be early. Working the registration table I got a chance to see a lot of familiar faces, as well as meet many new people. Thank you to everyone who made it out, and for those who couldn’t attend, here is my recap of last night’s event.

Mobile Marketing: it’s still not too late to be early

The event’s MC Steven McGill of McGill Buckley took the stage at 7:00 pm sharp to welcome everyone to the event and to introduce our speaker, Nectar Economakis. Dressed in a sharp suit, he exuded confidence. Despite some minor microphone problems, Nectar captivated the crowd with his calm nature and strong voice. Nectar began by asking the crowd “Who owns a smartphone?”. Pretty much everyone. The majority had iPhones. Another sizeable chunk were BlackBerry users and one or two people used Android. But remember, this crowd is unique – we are mostly marketing nerds and geeks (sorry, but it’s true). Look at our entire population as a country – by the end of 2014, half of Canadians will own smartphones. That’s pretty incredible. Furthermore, mobile is expected to exceed desktop usage in the next 3-5 years.

“Mobile is ramping up faster than any other technology we have seen in the past” – Mary Meeker, Kleiner Perkins

He goes on to explain that in past years, the trend with desktop usage is that it drops during the holidays – people are busier, they are out shopping, at family events, etc… But so is not the case with mobile. In fact, Mobile usage actually increases during the holidays. People’s mobile device have become their own personal shopper to help them find stores, items, best prices, reviews, etc. Also, how easy is it to pull out your mobile device at the table and show everyone a funny Christmas commercial on YouTube? Very easy. The thing with mobile is that it is always on, and is always on us. It allows constant connectivity.

So how is Google adapting to this shift?

Google operates under the assumption that people carry their mobile device with them everywhere. Based on that assumption, Google wants to build applications that will allow people to be more productive and entertained. Bottom line is that mobile should always come first. The mobile device has become an extension of the body. The camera is it’s sight, the microphone enables hearing, the speakers enable voice and the screen allows touch.

Nectar went on to show us a few video examples of how people are being both productive, and entertained using some of Google’s mobile applications. My favourite example was a video that featured a group of kids playing the classic game “Chubby Bunny” using Google Voice as the referee. Not only did this video make us laugh, but it showed the power of Google’s apps.

Key Mobile Trends Moving Forward

What does Google see for the future of mobile? The first has got to be entertainment. People don’t stand in lines anymore. They stand in lines and browse their smartphones. Here are a few stats for you – 125 years of Angry Birds is played everyday and there are 200 million mobile playbacks a day on YouTube. Wow!

Mobile is also immediate. At any point in time we can pull out our phones and make a call, write a review, send an email, book a hotel. We have so much immediate power at our fingertips.

Mobile compliments other media. During the SuperBowl in February, mobile searches on GoDaddy.com increased 315 times compared to 38 times on desktop. Why? People saw the ads and were intrigued. But when you’re sitting in the living room with your buddies watching the game, you’re not going to get up and go to your desktop – you’re going to pull out your smartphone.

Mobile is local. In fact, 1 in 3 mobile searches are local. After looking up a local business on a smartphone, 61% of users called and 59% visited. That is pretty amazing.

Last but not least, mobile is the ultimate shopping companion. 74% of users have purchased due to using their smartphone while shopping and 79% of smartphone users use their smartphone to help them shop. Whether it’s reading reviews, finding directions to a store or comparing prices, your mobile device is hands down your best shopping companion.

Three purposes for accessing the mobile web

1. Entertainment – make the brand experience fun with a game or engaging video content
2. Information – provide consumers with information about brands and product categories
3. Transaction – help consumers get what they want, faster and easier

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SEMPO Ottawa Google Event: Mobile Marketing Recap is a post from: SEO Ottawa | Search Engine Optimization and Internet Marketing Agency | WebFuel

Are you credible? Do you have the knowledge and expertise on the topic for which you are trying to be influential? TSN Hockey analyst Bob McKenzie has an enormous influence on hockey fans through his Twitter account (with over 209,000 followers), blog and TV programs. Why? Because for the last 25 years, MacKenzie has lived and breathed hockey at every level in all corners of the earth. He is extremely credible on his topic of influence, hockey.

Trust

How much will you trust someone you’ve never met in person? Would you ever buy a product because someone online told you to? Gary Vaynerchuk is a great example of someone who has used a transparency and honesty to develop a strong level of trust among his followers. Vaynerchuk is well known for his video podcast “Wine Library TV” which featured weekly episodes in which he would sit behind a table and reviews wines. Vaynerchuk’s honest and laid back style during these episodes gained him a large following and turned him into one of the most influential wine reviewers in the world.

Relevance

Are you giving your audience what they are looking for? A lot of people fail to achieve a great deal of influence becuase they miss the target here – their audience is misaligned and their message is all over the map. I am a reader Avinash Kaushik‘s blog – he is influential on me. Why? Becuase he blogs about analytics. That’s it. That’s why I follow him, and that’s what I expect to read when he writes a new post. If one day he decided to blog about horse racing, I would be confused and I would leave. Relevance is huge.

Timing

Timing is key. Can you deliver your message to your audience in a timely fashion? Sometimes being timely can make or break your influence with a certain audience. I rarely use the same example twice in one blog post, but this is an exeption. I’m going to use Bob MacKenzie again for this one. He is always the first one to report anything hockey – a trade, suspension, a healthy scratch, what Daniel Alfredsson is having for lunch…okay maybe not that much, but his ability to report detailed hockey news in an extremely timely fashion is staggering – and one of the main reasons I follow him religiously on Twitter.

Alignment

Are you in the right place? Aligning your message with your target audience is one of the most overlooked aspects of building influence.  Should you be using Twitter? LinkedIn? Google +? Take Justin Bieber for example. He went from a simple teenager in a small Canadian town to one of the World’s most famous and influential pop stars by using YouTube. His target audience (probably 95% teenage girls) are heavy users of the video sharing site. He is the perfect example of gaining influence through strategic alignment.

Measuring your Influence

So how much influence do you actually have? Who do you influence? What topics are you influencial on? Well there are a few free tools out there that help you determine your online influence. The most well known is probably Klout. If you haven’t heard of Klout, here is how they describe themselves:

The Klout Score measures influence based on your ability to drive action. Every time you create content or engage you influence others. The Klout Score uses data from social networks in order to measure: True Reach (how many people you influence), Amplification (how much you influence them) and Network Impact (the influence of your network). 

So first of all, Klout will give you an overall score – mine is 54. Secondly, they provide you with a Klout Style – I am a specialist – meaning that I am “not necessarily a celebrity, but within my area of expertise my opinion is second to none. My content is likely focused around a specific topic or industry with a focused, highly-engaged audience.”

Klout then breaks down individual scores for the three aforementioned elements: True Reach, Amplification and Network Impact. They also provide a list of topics for which you are influential. Apparently, within my network, I am influential about Small Business, Media, Beer, Ottawa, Facebook and SmartPhones. I can then break it down even further. I can see which specific people I influence the most, and on which topics. Similarly, I can see who influences me the most, and on which topics. For example, my biggest influencer is Chris Brogan, and he influences me on Blogging, Social Media and Marketing.

Understanding your influence is key to Social Media success. Are you in the right place? Are you influencing who you want to be? Are you missing the mark? Tracking my Klout score has personally helped me fill in the gaps where I am missing out, and realign my Social Media strategy.

How will you become influential using Social Media?

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The Importance of Social Media Influence is a post from: SEO Ottawa | Search Engine Optimization and Internet Marketing Agency | WebFuel

SEMPO Canada / SEMPO Ottawa Meetup

Date: Thursday, October 13, 2011

Time: 6:00 – 9:00PM

Location: Hard Rock Café in the Byward Market (Map & Directions)
The bar will be open (and food orders can be placed)

Presenter: Nectarios Economakis
Agency Lead at Google |  Montréal, Canada

Mobile: It’s not too late to be early
Mobile is ramping up faster than any other technology we have seen in the past. Your mobile device is a better shopping companion because it is personal, interactive, local and dynamic. Come learn about what is driving the growth of mobile, the key trends and how you can take advantage of mobile right now. We will look at Canadian mobile trends as well as Canadian Search habits on mobile devices.

Agenda

6:00PM - Event Registration & Networking

7:00PM - Nectarios Economakis Presentation (and Q & A session)

8:00PM - SEMPO Ottawa Meetup & Networking

Cost: $10.00/per person

SEMPO Members (free)
Just pay in advance and we will reimburse you at the event. You must be listed on the SEMPO Member Directory.

If you are not a member, join SEMPO now and attend for free. Plus receive all the benefits of a SEMPO membership for 12 months! Be sure to select the Canada Chapter when you sign up.

Student Admission (free)
Calling all students! We want you at our upcoming event featuring Google Canada’s Nectar Economakis. So much so that we will pay your way in. That’s right. We know that money can be tight. We were all students once. And besides, we don’t want you to miss out on this great event!

Just pay in advance and we will reimburse your money at the door – with a valid student ID that is. Courtesy of your friends at WebFuel & McGill Buckley.

Hashtag: #sempoottawa

Space is limited. Register for this event now!

Online registration is available until: Tuesday, October 11th (or until all tickets are sold out).

About SEMPO Canada
SEMPO Canada is a working group of the Search Engine Marketing Professionals Organization (SEMPO). We have meet-ups across the country, in Ottawa, Toronto, Edmonton and Vancouver. To learn more, please visit the SEMPO Canada website – and join our group on LinkedIn (English & French).

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SEMPO Ottawa, Google & Mobile Event: From a Canadian Perspective is a post from: SEO Ottawa | Search Engine Optimization and Internet Marketing Agency | WebFuel