Taproot Foundation

This evening I went to an orientation for the Taproot Foundation. I would like to recommend this organization to anyone that wants to give back, build your portfolio or simply network with professionals in your industry.

They provide primarily marketing services to non-profit organizations that either don't have the capital or the man power to complete basic projects like building a web site or creating a brochure, or a logo.

The positions they need filled run the gambit of marketing from graphic designers to branding and strategy specialist, as well as project managers and account directors, so there is typically something for everyone with some marketing acumen.

The projects typically last 5-6 months and you should be able to dedicate 4-5 hours per week working on the projects.

They operate in Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Washington D.C. and the Boston metro areas.

Check out their site:
http://www.taprootfoundation.org/

AdSensation

So I went through with it and put up the ads and will be tracking to see how they perform and what type of ads are being displayed. The current batch seem mildly shady with implicit promises of making money with your blog.

Wow! 8 impressions...this is great! Ok, so maybe this blog isn't about to take off, but I'll still post updates to see if AdSense really makes sense for a search engine marketers blog or none at all.

If you're in the SEM field and run AdSense on your own website, I'd love to hear from you to see what you think.

Regards,
Brian

AdSense or NoSense?

So I recently set up this blog to write about the daily goings on at an SEM company like the one I work for.  Online advertising is growing and local online advertising feels like the right place to be as well. Sounds simple enough, I'm not the only one out there doing it to be sure.


But now every time that I log into the Blogger site I see this AdSense offer/option, and I wonder does it make sense? I have to ask myself whether or not I would want to have ads running on my site, when my work involves advertising for small businesses on sites such as these. I definitely want other people to use it.

Not much of a dilemma I know, but in all seriousness should I be advertising for the competition on a blog site that is supposed to generate more awareness for BridgeWorks?

Yeah I know you can screen out ads that you don't want-for specific sites or general categories, but then where does that leave the end user? Does anyone want to see ads for non-relevant content? If you're like me, you're done with the classmates.com ads and No, I don't need to refinance my mortgage with a jiggling dancing girl. What the CTR for those folks?

So I guess I’ve come to the conclusion at the end of this post that like any marketer worth his salt I have to test it out. I’m going to turn on the ads and measure the results. At the end of the day you have to run the ads, analyze the data and then make educated decisions and not rely only on gut reactions.

Small Business Balancing Act

Running a small business is tough. There are only so many hours in a day and it seems like there is always another job, or task to get done. It's a balancing act between doing what must be done, taking care of what needs to be done and worrying about what should be done.
One area that many businesses struggle is advertising. Historically advertising has been an insular community of a few players that controlled radio, TV and newspapers. These media outlets typically charge you an upfront fee or a CPM and it was, and is, expensive. Small businesses really didn't have that much access to advertising primarily because of the cost. If they did do advertising it was in smaller neighborhood newspapers, late night radio or TV or classified advertising. Things are changing and the internet is responsible.

Online advertising has been changing in last couple of years with a specific focus that has shifted from the pure play ecommerce players to more locally based retail, brick and mortar stores. Some people like to call this "clicks to bricks", "web to store" or "multi-channel marketing". Whatever you call it, significant research has been done that suggests that the typical internet user is actively searching for products and services that are available in their local area.
eMarketer estimates that in the next 4 years the CAGR (compound annual growth rate) for internet influenced purchases is going to be 19%. Similarly Forrester estimates that 16% of all retail transactions are directly influenced by online research.
So what does this mean to the average drycleaner, mechanic or landscaper? Go online and get new customers. Online advertising is by far the least expensive advertising medium out there, so it's easy to test. The real beauty of it is that you are in control and you only pay for performance. What I mean by performance is that you are only paying for advertising that actually drives potential customers to your website.
How great is that? When was the last time Yellow Pages, your newspaper or your local radio station said…how bout we don’t charge you anything for advertising until it actually starts working.

The short term changes that companies can make to their advertising is by creating a $300 test. Don't let anybody fool you into thinking you have to spend a fortune. And then on the backend, if you work with us, we will give you precise details on how the advertising is working.
I invite you to give me a call to get some information on advertising online. We’re knowledgeable, low pressure, and information focused, so you can make the right decision for your business.

bjames@bridgeworksadvertising.com

Half My Advertising is Working

Brian James here again for BridgeWorks Advertising and wanted to throw in a quick update on some of the great features that we've been rolling out and offering to local businesses advertising through our programs and systems. Online advertising at a local level couldn't be simpler or more affordable, than with the BridgeWorks system.

It used to be that when you bought advertising you spent some money (usually a lot of money) and then clung to the adage, "Half my advertising works, I just don't know which half"

Those days are gone. With email responses, forms submitted and even calls being tracked our advertisers get a clear picture as to how their ads are performing; and there's nothing better than knowing which half of your advertising is working.