We found a great article in our inbox recently, from Stacy Williams, at Prominent Placement – thanks to her for allowing us to reprint and comment – her article appears in blue:

One of the great benefits of search engine marketing is that it’s more measurable than most other forms of advertising and marketing.  Search marketers are able to see exactly how many conversions (online leads or sales) they’ve driven, along with revenue generated and ROI.  It’s every marketer’s dream!

But are we missing half the picture by focusing on conversions?  Just because we can easily measure conversions, does that cause us to focus solely on this single metric and ignore other, harder-to-track benefits of search engine marketing?

I’m talking about branding.  You may be surprised to hear how much search engines impact brand awareness and the propensity to purchase.

Just seeing a paid search listing, for example, made searchers 38% more likely to have a perception of “exceptional quality” for the brands featured - they didn’t even have to click to visit the advertised sites for this increase in brand equity to occur (1).

High search engine rankings translate into perceptions of leadership and credibility across various industries studied.  For auto insurance purchasers, 79% said search introduced them to brands they were previously unaware of (2).  For wireless service customers, 61% said they expect brand leaders to consistently be in the top results (3).  And for travel web researchers, 56% said they looked at a site they didn’t intend to because it was one of the first few results listed (4).

People using search engines are more likely to consider multiple brands (77% did so) than Internet users that don’t use search engines (70%) or non-Internet users (46%).  On average, searchers considered 2.5 brands before making a purchase (5).

The positive impact that search has on nearly every step in the buying cycle is increasingly being recognized and valued by marketers.  Companies are now actually more likely to use search marketing for increasing brand awareness (61%) than for selling directly online (58%) or generating leads (20%) (6).

We’ll add that this phenomenon is not just for companies as brands, but for people as brands, too.  Gaining page one priority for your name has a huge effect on the psyche of those searching for you - sometimes subliminally, sometimes more recognizably - but either way, impacting their perception of you immediately upon search.

Sources:

1.  Search Brand Studies, June 06

2.  Yahoo Search Marketing Reach & Engagement, Nov. 05

3.  The Role of Search in the Wireless Market, Aug. 05

4.  The Role of Search in the Travel Research Cycle, Nov. 05

5.  Yahoo’s “Long & Winding Road” research, Dec. 06

6.  SEMPO’s Annual State of Search Survey, Jan. 08

Special thanks to Ron Belanger and John Cattarulla of Yahoo, whose presentation at the June meeting of the Atlanta Interactive Marketing Association brought these statistics to light.

About Stacy Williams and Prominent Placement:

For more information, visit Prominent Placement or call 888.SEM.MKTR.  Prominent Placement, Inc., is a full-service, award-winning search engine marketing firm based in Atlanta, GA, serving clients throughout the US since 2001.  We provide strategic search marketing solutions, delivering efficiencies that traditional marketing channels can’t touch, with a level of client service that can’t be matched.  We manage the process for you so that you can focus on your business.  Since your business is unique, so are the recommendations we make, backed by hard numbers that give you the confidence and knowledge you need to make smarter decisions.

So, you have realized you need to be online – and need to have a presence on the web?  You’ve put up a website, but it isn’t bringing you the traffic you want, it is a pain to maintain or costs a bunch to do so, and it costs even more to promote and push to the top of the search engines.  Want to know how to help people find the site and you?  Want to gain the most powerful marketing tool in the land?  How about one with a built in marketing plan?

Step one – sign up for QAlias – and link it to the site you want to promote.  Begin promoting yourself – tell people “Google Me” when they ask how to find you.  You’re who they do business with – and you’re who they will refer – not your business.  Think about it.  How do you refer?  Do you say “Go to InXpress” or “Contact my friend, Dustin Hansen.”  What if you could just say – Google Dustin Hansen to find out how he can save you money on your shipping?  (use code ATL101 for special owner service!)

Would you like that kind of instant findability, refer-ability and Net-Cred?  Would you like people to see a successful you immediately online, without having to  do more than put your name in Google?  Do you understand how important it is to pass the litmus test of these times?  Do you give good Google?

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Andy “Google Me” Greider is a marketing consultant and radio show host of business growth solutions show, Uniqueness is Power. Andy is also Brand Manager with qAlias, plus he is a Self Promotion maven, serial entrepreneur, author, blogger, and inventor of the Gorelephant, first eImpressions and networthing.  He’d love to help you grow your business or develop and deploy your online personal brand.

The political season has brought with it a new chant, “hope and change”.  It is a rallying cry for those who long for a new era and aura of enlightened governance. While the masses wait over the next year or two for our new leaders to deliver the ‘sea change’ of  peace, prosperity and opportunity, it is time to ignite the well spring of hope and change in our own personal and professional life. I much prefer immediate actions to bring the personal change and success that you desire.  The environment for success has never been better.  

I had lunch the other day with Alisa Petit, a former corporate executive who is realizing the need to find expression in her professional life by teaching other professionals to build confidence and effectively ‘wave their own flag’ through personal branding. As an active net-worker I am constantly meeting those who are making the daunting transition from the corporate cocoon to an entrepreneurial sandbox.  They are pursuing this change through necessity, whether personally inspired or circumstantial. And, like Alisa, they just need a catalyst to enable and empower their inner motivations.  Perhaps you are among those considering or making such a move.   

The 19^th century philosopher, James Allen wrote in “As Man Thinketh,”

“As a being of Power, Intelligence and Love, and Lord of his own thoughts, man holds the key to every situation, and contains within himself that transforming and regenerative agency by which he may make himself what he wills.”

Ok, now inspired, what next? 

First step is to take inventory of your skills and strengths. The exercise of just writing a personal bio can be the right opportunity to realize the depth of your experience and talents. It can also be a watershed of inspiration for expanding your horizons. 

Second step is to establish your credibility in the web community. Learn the web tools that are available to own the first page of your name’s search engine results.  Write articles for blogs that are related to areas of your expertise. Become the owner of the corner store on the web for your areas of interest and a maven for those who are interested in the same topics.

Third step is to expand your network.  Discover the business and social networking meetings in your area and attend a few.  Learn to become a netweaver and also engage in networthing.  Remember it is not what you know or who you know….but who knows you that really counts.

Begin now to make hope and change a personal crusade.

“Don’t with it were easier;

Wish you were better.

Don’t wish for less problems;

Wish for more skills.

Don’t wish for less challenge;

Wish for more wisdom.”

Charles Fellingham is founder of QAlias, a personal branding tool that provides prominent personal placement optimization on the web. He is also a corporate trainer for the Forum Corporation and a Regional Sales Manager for a Fortune 200 company.

Back in the sixties and seventies, people asked the question “Can You Pass the Acid Test?” and “Are You Experienced?”  They wanted to know how real you were – but they had to ask you face to face.  Now, with Google meaning “to search for knowledge online” as a verb, the game has changed.  You will be looked for.  Will you be found – or found wanting?  Can You Pass The Google Test?

How do you look online now?  If a meeting suddenly become “virtual” and the other person Googled you, what would they find?  If you don’t know – go do it now.  I’ll wait here….

So, what did you find?  Was it what you would have wanted them to find?  Or was it something else?  Someone else?  Someone else you wouldn’t want to be confused with?  If so, you’re not alone for sure.  People all across the board are finding others who share their name, sharing rankings with them – or worse yet, not being found at all.  So, what can you do about it?

Take top position.  Publish an article and link to it from your top position.  Begin to add links to the top position to the things you want associated to your name and status online.  Link to sites with lots of traffic, such as Wikipedia, YouTube and others where you see relevant content.  Join the Google Revolution – and take your position in the online chess match being waged for top page supremacy.  Protect and promote your personal brand!

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Andy “Google Me” Greider is a marketing consultant and radio show host of business growth solutions show, Uniqueness is Power. Andy is also Brand Manager with qAlias, plus he is a Self Promotion maven, serial entrepreneur, author, blogger, and inventor of the Gorelephant, first eImpressions and networthing.  He’d love to help you grow your business or develop and deploy your online personal brand.

The pumps keep going up – and the signs are that it won’t stop anytime soon.  Plus, now that we’re past $4 a gallon – the chances of things going back below the $4 mark seem slim.  Until we find and begin to use alternate energy sources, we’re going to see people cutting back more and more on travel, conventions, face to face meetings and more.  With that decrease in one on one interactions, more people will be turning to the internet to learn about you and what you offer to them.

It is an imperative, now more than ever before, that you are being found online the way you want to be found.  Being found on page one of the search engine(s) of choice is key, as is conveying the information you want them to find.  Making sure your personal brand is created, portrayed and projected as you’d intend can make the difference right now in this economy – where a “first impression” becomes a first e-Impression.

Wouldn’t it be great to be able to tell all your clients who need to be in contact with you – “Just Google Me!” – and make it so your presence is a professional, ad free and clean space you control?  Wouldn’t it be amazing if, over time, your name being input in the search engines brought up a whole page or two or three of results – the accolades and the information you want to share with the clients you have, or the ones seeking you out?  What if your clients could refer you by simply saying “Google her?”

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Andy “Google Me” Greider is a marketing consultant, personal branding expert and radio show host of business growth solutions show, Uniqueness is Power.  Andy is also Brand Manager with qAlias, plus he is a Self Promotion maven, serial entrepreneur, author, blogger, and inventor of the Gorelephant, first eImpressions and networthing.  He’d love to speak with you about how to grow your business and improve your brand.

After I was downsized for the second time in three years back in April, I decided that enough was enough. I was tired of working for someone else in an unstable economy and having the feeling that I couldn’t control my circumstances.

 I have been a writer and editor for 18 years, but I’ve always worked for someone else. After freelancing part-time for almost three years, I decided to go into business for myself. I applied for every freelance gig under the sun and tried to network with friends, family and total strangers who were interested or too slow to get away from me.

 I’ve always said that I’m not a salesman, but now I’m in the business of selling myself. I think my work speaks for itself, but unfortunately, I have to get that opportunity to let my work do the talking. I had heard from a friend that I needed to control and shape my online image through Qalias. I didn’t realize what he meant until I went to Google and typed in my name.

 What came up was a subway street performer in New York City, a starving actor in Minnesota (move out of Minnesota and you might not starve in your acting career?) and a salesman in Oregon. I thought about my online habits, and realized that anytime I want to find information for a story I’m doing that the first thing I do is go to Google and let my computer do the searching. Why should my freelance writing and editing business be any different?

Now that I am a part of QAlias, potential clients can find out everything they need to know about me and my business by just typing my name in the Google search box. I am the first link they see, not some juggler in the subway tunnels of New York. I have landed several clients as a result of this service, and I think that the sky is the limit for where QAlias can help me take my business. I am working on my juggling skills, just in case I want to add something unique to my skillset!

Let’s face it, we realize most of our success when the people we know send us business referrals. And we receive these referrals by asking for them as a matter of good business practice. Yet, when the referrals stop or never come, it’s to time to look in the mirror and take inventory of our personal brand.  The first two fundamental questions have to be answered in this process of self analysis.

Are you referable?

Being referable has many components, but first and foremost, it requires that you be a clear and concise communicator who clearly states the value of you and your services or products from the client’s point of view.  Secondly, you must deliver the basics well.  You know, return calls the same day and respect others needs, time, issues and emotions. It also means you return the favor by giving referrals as you get them…without the expectation of reciprocation. 

Are you Remarkable?

It is one thing to receive a referral from an associate because the like you.  It is another thing to receive a referral because the associate knows that the referral will have a truly remarkable experience while doing business with you.  So what are the elements of a remarkable experience?  The elements of creating a remarkable experience come from doing the basics with flair. 

A few examples might serve to illuminate the case more thoughtfully:

I received a referral the other day from a trusted friend.  Rather than simply send a memo that would serve to confirm a meeting,  I sent a video bulletin, with a  video of myself expressing my optimism to that person for the upcoming meeting.  This simple gesture received a robust response and made the meeting that much more productive.

Doing a google search of the referral also can provide fodder for making a positive first impression and showing genuine interest in the other person.  I brought a Notre Dame coffee mug to a first meeting with a referral after learning that he was a South Bend graduate.  He continues to talk about this as we are doing business a year later.

If you want to learn more about handling your R&R,  be sure to read Bob Littell’s new book, “Raising Your R&R Factor.”

Charles Fellingham is founder of QAlias, a personal branding tool that provides prominent personal placement optimization on the web. He is also a corporate trainer for the Forum Corporation and a Regional Sales Manager for a Fortune 200 company.

Selena Dehne of JIST Publishing, has brought to light the Execunet survey that more than 8 of 10 recruiters used search engines to find “digital dirt” on candidates.  Perhaps even more relevant - 43% of them used it to eliminate prospects.

“Digital Dirt” is not easy to define - and like most nebulous, amorphous entities, it is harder still to remove.  No matter the cause - a photo deemed inappropriate by the recruiter pursuant to the company message, an organization with questionable backgrounds or reasons for being - or even a blog post or message board where you got a little too blatant and harsh - they can all come back to haunt you.  Job seekers aren’t the only ones who need to worry, but they are likely among the most exposed.

In the book, “Seven Days to Online Networking” (JIST), authors Ellen Sautter and Diane Crompton, add:

 

“Digital dirt comes in all shapes and sizes. For example, the Internet might reveal that you’re a member of a controversial association or that you’re part of a moonlighting business that could be a conflict of interest with, or distraction from, your primary work. It can simply be something that is irrelevant to your professional reputation and distracts people from the real message you want to get across about who you are and what you have to offer,” Sautter and Crompton state.

Many job seekers think they’re squeaky clean in cyberspace, only to discover that someone with the same name is soiling their reputation with recruiters. Sharing a common name with people who work in the same field or live in a similar area can be extremely problematic for job seekers if negative information is lurking online.

The authors have suggested four manners in which to handle this unfortunate series of events - and we like them - but will also add to each one:

Wash over it.

Create so much new online content about yourself that the negative or irrelevant information is buried under fresher, more relevant and more positive content. This method is useful when you’re dealing with content that relates to someone else who shares your name. The more positive, relevant content you can create that is truly yours, the more you’ll stand out from the pack of Jane Smiths and John Does.

The only problem here is when you are up against John Smith or another common name - it is VERY hard to displace someone with that much name credibility and relevance.  We suggest adding this weapon to your arsenal.  With it, you leapfrog the competition and take top billing and then help pull the rest of your postings up one at a time.

Wash it out.

Get rid of it entirely. Having online content deleted is not easy. Unless someone you know well created or posted the content in the first place, you might have a difficult time getting the owners of the site to remove the offending content.

This, as stated is a tough thing to do.  The most reasonable approaches and common sense rarely work - you can offer money, but beware that sometimes this leads to the site host then transferring the content to another site, and on and on.

Wait it out.

Take no active measures to hide or delete the content, but just let nature take its course. Nature, in this case, is the natural sequence of events in most reasonably active, visible professionals’ lives. This approach is only recommended if you write, speak or blog often.

This is one tactic I can not attest to seeing work well - and seems very similiar to suggestion #1 in the “diy” manner.  Why not spend $119.40 of your annual marketing budget to promote and escalate the one thing you know you’ll have with you for whole life-  your name.

Call in the pros.

Now you can employ the services, for a fee, of course, of businesses that will keep an eye on your online reputation and help you keep it clean. One of the pioneers in this field, ReputationDefender, goes on a search-and-destroy mission. This organization scours the Internet to dig up every bit of information on you and then sets out to destroy (at your request) any negative information by getting it corrected or removed, whenever possible.

This is a helpful service to be sure - they do an awesome job of patrolling the internet and making sure your name is cleared and kept clean.  I know people who have used them and are quite thrilled with the results.  Still, coupled with top page positioning - you can gain even more than removal of bad press - you can help push up the good press.

Tell me, who are you? (Who are you? Who, who, who, who?)                                   

Cause I really wanna know (Who are you? Who, who, who, who?)

This musical refrain ideally captures the tone of today’s search engine phenomena.  The musical group “The Who” released the song in 1978.  Today’s symphony the World Wide Web orchestrates the new chorus of individuals seeking to know “Who Are You”.    There is a steady drumbeat derived from the clicking of a mouse, the volume can be heard from colleges to corporate campuses as they “Google for Knowledge “.    Research indicates individuals today fundamentally rely upon a search line for the answer.     The volume of knowledge being sought increases by the day as individuals seek the validation of others.  

 “Who Are You” a simple question, today amplifies to a crescendo by a marketplace embracing technology’s new tools of access and a thirst demanding to know more.  Your reputation management and individual success is to a degree predicated upon those seeking the knowledge be empowered to easily find you or to easily learn “Who Are You”.

 Often as I lecture to corporations or colleges the conversations will at sometime include a comment or question concerning the topic of, have you ever Googled Yourself?  The answer surrounding this concept breaks dramatically upon the technology genres’ rooted in the demographics of age.  To those young at heart tend to rock ‘n roll by embracing the adventures of the social aspects of the Web seen through the evolution of Face Book and My Space.    This youthful spirit embraces technology not as change agent, but as a fundamental component of everyday life.    Are you YouTube connected, are you posting to flickr, or sharing peer-to-peer if the answer is no you could possibly be classified a contemporary spirit, somewhat reserved, though willing to embrace change.    Your quest for knowledge is deeply rooted in a foundation of experience as you’ve witnessed technology emerge.   

I witnessed a perfect example of these technology genres’ displayed by two receptionists working for a prominent cosmetic dentist as they responded to a request from the dentist to contact a certain individual.    The contemporary receptionist 35 years young utilized in the yellow pages allowing her fingers to do the walking of discovery.   The rock ‘n roll receptionist 21 years of youth executed the Google keystroke as the method for discovering.    The keystroke netted a quicker result, however the importance displayed in this example is that each receptionist receiving the request reacted instinctively and dramatically different.   

The actions of discovering are significant as someone attempts to learn “Who Are You”.  It however pales in comparison to the content found in discovery.   Results generate vibrations often alarming or reassuring.  What are the sounds heard by your clients trying to learn “Who Are You”?  Successful business formats today require you to be in tune and willing to pitch yourself.   The orchestration of who you are is exemplified through your personal brand.   Position yourself today to conduct your business in harmony.  Sing your praise and showcase your successes!   Develop your personal brand let them know loud and clear “Who You Are”.

Mike McGraw

Director of Marketing Qalias

CEO/Founder of Tneve Inc.

Author & Motivational Speaker/Trainer

28-Year Entrepreneur & Consultant

Providing Solutions to Today’s Growing Businesses

Contact: Mike@Qalias.com or call 770-251-9978

To Learn More “Google Me”

I was at the security line in Atlanta Jackson Airport recently, which means I had some serious time to kill.  It struck me that I needed to call a business associate to put the finishing touches on a deal that needed to be completed that day.  Unfortunately, I did not have this associates’ phone number or contact information in my Treo.  Nor did I have my rolodex of business cards on my person.  The only thing left to do was work the google line from my trusty phone in the hopes that my business compatriot was somewhere to be conveniently found on page one.  Fortunately Chuck had page one, top line presence and I was speaking with him after just a few taps on my phone.  This scenario is becoming more and more familiar for many of us as we move from the laptop co-dependency to the agility of the handheld as much of the rest of the world has already done.

It is time for you to be found! Your clients will appreciate that you have made the decision to save them time when they are searching for you.  You will be happier as you differentiate yourself from competitors who share your business space and client list.  Leadership in your field is earned and today it expands beyond just the successful conduct of your professional dealings.  It is a result also of an intentional act to position yourself prominently on the internet. While having a presence in the social networks is a expectation,  it is becoming common practice to the point where it becomes an expectation not a differentiator.

So the next time you are searching for a business professional and become frustrated at the poor internet tools that exist for finding that, or any, person, remember that you also are being searched and can save your clients and network  that same frustration by making yourself easy to be found.

Charles Fellingham is currently Sales Trainer for the Forum Corporation of Boston and is a certified Dale Carnegie Instructor.  Charles is also Sales Manager of the Aircraft Tire Division of Goodyear. In addition, he is Founder of www.QAlias.com, a personal branding tool for personal web search optimization. You can also find his writings on www.PersonalBrandsOnline.com