Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is the blessed way in which Google, Yahoo!, and Bing make their millions. When used correctly, SEM can be the most effective way to market and advertise your business. It is by far the easiest way to get your name out there, and should not be too expensive.

Some of the reluctance regarding creating a SEM is the possibility of being “attacked”. The way search engines charge you is called “Price-Per-Click” and used to charge whenever someone clicks your link, off of that particular search engine. This used to pose a problem for small business with big rivals. Competitors would hire employees to simply click on other businesses links over and over until funds were exhausted! Luckily, the search engines caught on quickly and started using IP addresses to monitor the number of times that address clicks a particular site. Too many clicks from the same user and monitors recognize what is happening and even has the power to ban users from clicking in the future. (I love technology!)

The most important aspect to creating your SEM are the keywords you use for the search. Use a formatting site to gauge which keywords will be most effective, and a keyword finder to figure what they will cost. It is imperative that you use keywords actually found on you site (the marketing Gods don’t like liars). Finally, keep it brief! The more specific you are with your keywords, the more effective the results will be. And the shorter the phrases, the higher the profit!

Search Engine Marketing is the key to success in our technological era. Follow these tips and your links will be blowing up in no time!

Happy searching!

What are the most popular SEM keywords? Do you find SEM to be profitable to your company? Let me know what you think!

We love to report on event happenings around the city, and this one is definitely one we’d like to spread the word about. If you are reading this post it probably means you recognize the importance of social networking for business success.“The Art of Active Networking” brought to you by “The Box SF” will take place every other Monday from October through December, 2010. Here you can participate and learn about some alternative forms of social networking, while increasing your business and online capabilities. Each guest is allowed 30 seconds to give a speech on the discussion at hand or to share new information for others to enjoy. So, put your thinking caps on and get ready to share some of your techniques and expect to learn something in return.

This event brings together an active cross-section of the Bay Area including business owners, entrepreneurs, environmentalists, dancers, artists, sales folks, designers, architects, bankers, wine lovers, marketing folks, media folks, doctors, singers, musicians, trainers and coaches. Their network includes everything from techies to trekkies. This is a great place for small business owners and entrepreneurs to make stronger active connections, and to help each other.

Bring your cards, laptops, i-Toys and smiles and be prepared to meet an interesting, outgoing, cross-section of cool people! Bring your ideas, add new friends on your social networking sites, with their high-speed free Wi-Fi, and build a new kind of network!

Shop. Sip. Listen. Taste. Learn. See. Connect

Cost is $7 online or $10 at the door.

What are some topics that you would like to hear discussed?

Yelp, as many of you know, is a user-generated website that allows people to write both negative or positive reviews for local restaurants, hotels, stores, nightlife scenes, and more. Users rate and leave comments about establishments for other consumers to review.

However, recent websites, like Yelp-Sucks and IHateYelp, have popped up in response to Yelp policies and reviews. These sites are used by angry business owners who have received negative feedback and complaints on Yelp, which has resulted in a loss of business. Many business owners have turned to Yelp for competitive reasons and are now frustrated with the site’s lax comment policies.

One major complaint is over the issue of negative reviews and how businesses can’t get rid of them. Another is that good reviews are often deleted from business pages by Yelp due to infrequent logging in by the owner. The site also allows users to review a business, even if they never used the service. Many business owners feel that they are not getting what they paid for, and that the site ultimately hurts their business.

Boris Levitt, owner of Renaissance Furniture Restoration, has actually sued Yelp for its “unfair and unethical conduct in promoting, marketing and advertising its website as maintaining unbiased reviews.” Levitt argues that the site is unlawful, and believes that Yelp has hurt his business. Yelp has had previous claims for similar issues in the past.

Do you think Yelp maintains its mission to promote companies in an unbiased fashion? How could Yelp change its policies to best serve business owners while providing consumers with truthful and relevant information?

Want to see where you’ve tweeted from in the past? Or maybe get a global view of a specific hastag? Twitter has some cool mapping tools that show real-time streams of relevant tweets and topics.

TrendsMap
This service displays hashtags, @mentions or keywords in a real-time mapping of Twitter trends across the world. Follow trends from various cities or focus on a trending topic and watch it worldwide.

Tweography
With a geo-location-enabled Twitter account, Tweography maps all the places you have tweeted from. This app is perfect for jet-setters to keep track of where you’ve been in the world.

TwitterMap.tv
TwitterMap.tv lets you hit “play,” sit back and watch the tweets roll by. Search a keyword or name and see all related tweets play across a regional or city map. This service also provides a profile picture and some basic user info about each tweeter.

MMMeeja’s Twitter Google Maps
This service will show you the locations of the people you follow on Twitter. That is as long as they have given their locations. If you follow more than one person in a geographical area, you can zoom in and hover over a particular person to see where they are tweeting from.

Do you use any of these mapping tools? Where was your most recent tweets sent from?

Depending on your answer, Fiverr may be the site for you! This new service provides a place for people to share things they’re willing to do for $5. The “gigs,” available to buy and sell, range from silly cards, a variety of lessons and instructions, medical advice, and songs and videos.

When the site first launched many people were skeptical it would succeed, but entrepreneurs Micha Kaufman and Shai Wininger realized that the mix of internet boredom and frugal consumers would create an ideal environment for their site to blossom. In essence, Fiverr is similar to sites like Etsy that connect buyers and sellers in a facilitated economy. For now Fiverr continues to grow and offer new gigs, because quite frankly, a lot of people out there know how to do some pretty cool stuff.

What would you do for $5? On that note, what would you buy for $5?

For some organizations, creating an online brand presence can seem daunting. However, many managers have realized the affect of their employees and are now actively looking for ways they can use social media both personally and professionally to generate hype.  While this is both cost-effective and clever marketing, there are a few simple rules needed to ensure a positive brand reputation.

1. Don’t Force It

In its early stages professional social media use created mixed signals and communication, resulting in cautionary policies within companies. These days, most employees have a clear understanding of what is considered professional and or inappropriate when interacting online.  Encourage your employees to mention the company on social media platforms but don’t create a formal policy outlining the do’s and don’ts.

2. Show Them How

While this might contradict the rule above, not every employee engages in social media. Make sure you demonstrate how to use each platform and provide resources that explain the best and most interesting ways to interact online. If you provide good tools for your employees, you will receive good feedback.

3. Identify Your Internal Brand

This basically means that if customers are supposed to identify with your brand shouldn’t those marketing your brand also be connected? Social media use under the company name will engage employees, creating advocates who understand and promote the brand in a relatable manner.

What other ways can employees generate brand recognition through social media platforms? Which platform do you think is the most useful?

VEVO and YouTube have once again partnered with American Express to launch a five-concert series of live performances this summer. “Unstaged: An Original Series from American Express” will kick off with a live-streamed performance by Arcade Fire at Madison Square Garden on August 5. Earlier this year YouTube and VEVO united with American Express to stream both the Alicia Keys and The National performances which contributed to the decision to create another concert series.

The summer series will feature the work of several acclaimed directors, and some cool social media features like “Choose Your Cam” which will allow viewers to control their experience by switching between camera streams. Other performances will include The Roots and John Legend.

Do you think this concert series will help establish YouTube and VEVO in the online music community? What performances would you like to see streamed?

Take a look at the teaser for the live-streamed concert by The Nationals in Brooklyn last May.

The non-profit aid group CrisisCommons has inspired people from around the globe to join together and help communities facing disasters. On July 16 more than 80 tech-industry leaders from five countries convened for the first international CrisisCongress in Washington D.C. The event was held to look for new and better ways to provide aid to both governments and citizens affected by crisis. One of the plans discussed was the implementation of additional social media and technology strategies in the event of future disasters or humanitarian issues.

Thus far the group has been successful through its use of social media tools to build a dedicated community spanning 10 countries, create CrisisCamps and eventually the Congress itself, and recruit and retain volunteers. The online community allows different countries to learn from other nation’s experiences and successes in order to prepare for and handle their own situations. Social media has also proven instrumental during a disaster because of the speed necessary to create and deploy tools and applications in the field.

While the Congress is a step in the right direction, CrisisCommons faces the challenge of preparing younger, less advanced countries for major catastrophes. As the internet and the use of social media continue to grow worldwide, one can only hope that these young international governments can learn from CrisisCommons and prepare themselves before the next major disaster strikes.

What are some other social media strategies CrisisCommons could look into?

A popular blog is like a popular person. When you think of the “it-crowd” in high school, what was it about them that made them popular? Well, for one thing they were well-liked. To put is simply, people like to spend time with people they like, just as people read blogs that they like. While your success depends on content and accuracy, what’s more important is your likeability. How you present yourself, the vibe you put out and the personality you convey are all a part of gaining the coveted popular kid status. Dean Rieck of copyblogger offers a few secrets on how to attract readers and make your blog popular.

Be Conversational
Instead of lecturing and talking down to your readers; write your posts as if you were engaging in a conversation with a friend. Keep posts informal and easy to read and you’ll avoid the boring teacher reference.

Keep It Light
The goal here is to entertain readers and leave them feeling just a little bit happier after reading your blog, so they’ll keep coming back for more. Don’t be afraid to crack a joke here or there, or show your sense of humor!

Share Yourself
While people read your blog to find information, they visit to learn about you. This means you need to share a little about yourself, with the occasional photo or note, to keep readers connected to you.

Don’t Be A Diva
Whoever said the nice guy never wins was wrong. In the world of blogging, the polite response is usually the best course of action. Make sure you answer your e-mails and respond to comments, and don’t let the rude people get to you. Simply delete inappropriate comments or feedback and move on.

Help People
Helpful people are popular people. Why? Because they’re willing to help when everyone else turns you down. Therefore, helpful blogs are popular blogs. Blogs are a great tool for readers because they offer lots of information, without expecting too much in return.

Love Your Blog
No matter what you should enjoy writing your blog. When you stop writing a little bit for yourself, you lose the connection needed to affect your readers. Don’t stress about how successful you are or need to be, and just concentrate on the blog. Popularity comes to those who relax!

What are some other secrets on how to create a popular blog? How have you applied these tricks?

The fact that you are reading this blog proves one thing: You’re hooked on technology! Don’t feel bad about it because pretty much everyone else is too, but when was the last time you unplugged, unhooked and shut down long enough to participate in a technology free activity? If you’re like me, the answer is not in a while.

Technology is undoubtedly one of the most important factors in our lives today, but some scientists say the constant juggle of e-mail, phone calls and other incoming information can change our thoughts, behavior, and ability to focus. A recent article in the New York Times discussed that while the negative effects are often minor, like spacing on dinner plans, information overload can cause work, family and relationship issues. Research has also shown that technological multitasking can cause the brain to think less creatively and deeply.

On the other hand, technology has shown itself to be good for the brain too. Studies show that Internet users are more efficient at finding information, video gamers have better visual acuity, and, as I think most would agree, the cell-phone and computer have pretty much solved the issue of boredom. In this case the good and bad don’t outweigh each other so it’s important to find a balance between technology and creativity so it doesn’t take over your life. Like the saying goes, “stop and smell the roses.”

How do we keep ourselves from falling too deep into information overload? Can technology inspire creative endeavors?