Why SEO is an important facet of Online Public Relations

I was recently involved in a conversation regarding the best fit for brand reputation as many legacy PR agencies were arguing that this function should be purely a PR activity rather than a combined, holistic approach to brand reputation. I hadn’t really thought more of that conversation until recently, whilst evaluating potential companies from which [...]

Big Brand Media Wants A Google Bailout

It seems like almost everyone in Big Business is looking for a bailout these days. That’s certainly true of several big brand media companies who, according to an AdAge article today, have told Google they deserve higher rankings in Google’s search results. Not only that, but one executive has also labeled the rest of the [...]

Brand loyalty doesn’t come cheap

The economy may be pushing prices lower, but when it comes to brand loyalty consumers still aspire to lofty expectations. That’s the conclusion of the latest BrandKeys customer loyalty survey and it could portend a strategy change in internet marketing for brands that are trying to hold the high ground.

Brand value, according to BrandKeys CEO [...]

US: Retail traffic still down

Not much good news is comes out of the retail industry lately, consumer confidence is at an all-time low and retailers have reported steep declines in revenue. The economic downturn also continues to impact overall visits to online retailers, which was down 7% for the week ending Feb. 21, 2009 as compared to the previous [...]

Make ‘Someday’ Happen Today

Here’s what it takes to implement your big idea in 10 minutes a day.
Aristotle observed that every living organism has an inner force, a vitality that propels that organism to be fulfilled. He called that state of being entelechy.
Everyone has an entelechy, a vital force that is yearning to be expressed.  The entelechy of an [...]

5 Startup Tips From the Father of Gmail and FriendFeed

Andrew Warner is an Internet entrepreneur and the founder of Mixergy. He interviews successful people to learn how they did it.
I asked Paul Buchheit for advice on launching startups because he fathered two of this decade’s most successful online products: Gmail and FriendFeed. As part of his work on Gmail, he also developed the [...]

Why having a search budget might not be necessary

Really interesting post from The Rimm-Kaufman Group on why you shouldn’t have a search budget, maybe it’s time to change our thinking in this current economic climate – the sky’s the limit perhaps!
Investment Banks call me just about every week these days, asking whether our clients’ search budgets are growing or shrinking given the state [...]

Top 7 Hiring Mistakes for Startup Businesses

Avoid these pitfalls and build a team of talented employees.
Building great teams is never easy.
A quick look at the sports world confirms this. Coaches come and go, players are free to seek new teams and owners are free to sign players who fit certain roles within the limits of payroll.
In business, it’s equally difficult. [...]

5 Ways to Keep Abreast of What’s Happening in Your Niche

While learning about things outside your niche is always encouraged too, you should always be on the look out for new strategies and trends that pertain to yours. This will be incredibly beneficial to you for staying competitive. Your thoughts?.
Following are a few tools you should be using to do just that.
1. StumbleUpon
StumbeUpon [...]

12 Reasons for Investing in a Franchise

There are some obvious advantages in investing in a franchise, the most important being that you will be buying into a tried and tested business concept. It may more expensive, (although there are some low cost franchise oppotunities out there), than starting your own business in the same sort of market but it does bring [...]