tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-121329482024-03-23T14:25:51.100-04:00Loop's eMarketing SpotA blog for online marketers, publishers and managers. It provides useful, relevant and simple to use tips and advice on improving online marketing and communications.Loop Consulting Grouphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03513857488625232290noreply@blogger.comBlogger130125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12132948.post-38997748897601671722008-09-20T15:27:00.003-04:002008-09-20T15:37:45.305-04:00Drive-Thru 2008: Online Marketing Essentials Presentation Summary<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_jOQsqmFOQjA/SNVO16YpKeI/AAAAAAAAAA4/x2qjxH-xouI/s1600-h/DT+2008+1st+Slide.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_jOQsqmFOQjA/SNVO16YpKeI/AAAAAAAAAA4/x2qjxH-xouI/s200/DT+2008+1st+Slide.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5248187628882831842" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">1. </span><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Customers are using the internet to search for solutions, products and services.</span><br /><br />a. 80% of internet traffic begins at the search engines.<br />b. 68% of the search market share belongs to Google.<br />c. Website pages need to be optimized so they can be picked up by Google and displayed in the search results. Optimization involves page Meta Data, text on the site pages and back links to your site.<br />d. Sponsored search (pay-per-click) provides geographical targeting of ads, content targeted ads and 100% control of the ad message.<span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />2. Customers compare information from multiple locations.</span><br /><br />a. Company and competitors websites.<br />b. Independent product/services review websites. Ex. Cruise Critic or Consumer Reports<br />c. Blogs<br />d. Price Brokers. Ex: Travelocity or Hotel.com<span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />3. Customers love video…a lot.</span><br /><br />a. 73.7 percent of the total U.S. Internet audience viewed online video in March 2008.<br />b. 139 million U.S. Internet users watched an average of 83 videos per viewer in March 2008.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">4. Once customers find the information they are looking for, they don’t want to have to search for it again.</span><br /><br />a. 36% of internet users say they have a customizable web page, such as iGoogle or My Yahoo.<br />b. Subscribe to eNewsletters or email alerts<br />c. Use aggregators such as iGoogle to receive RSS feeds for news and information in a single place. Information that can educate and influence purchase.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">5. Customers have cell phones and are texting (SMS).<br /></span><br />a. 84 % of Americans have cell phones.<br />b. 74% of all mobile phone users are active SMS (Text) users.<span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />6. Customer trust their friends and family when it comes to purchase advise.</span><br /><br />a. Consumers trusted recommendations from consumers 78% more than they did any other forms of advertising.<br />b. They are using social networks such as Facebook and MySpace to communicate with people they trust and ask for purchase advice.<br />c. A marketer’s job is to engage with social networks to listen, learn and correct what communities say about your product and services.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Summary</span>: Customers are interacting with the internet at multiple points and with different tools. Customers are seeking information form various channels to help them make the best purchase decision. Not one single channel provides all the information the customer is looking for in order to purchase. Loop Consulting Group helps marketers determine which channels need to be developed in order to achieve effective integrated multiple-channel marketing communications focused on increasing sales and brand awareness.<br /></span>Loop Consulting Grouphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03513857488625232290noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12132948.post-69550539963482658782008-09-09T16:34:00.009-04:002008-09-09T16:50:47.383-04:00Online Communications Tools Map<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3009/2735401175_fcdcd0da03.jpg?v=0"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 465px; height: 432px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3009/2735401175_fcdcd0da03.jpg?v=0" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style=";font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;" ><br /><br /><br />This is a great visual model of the conduits to conversation. As marketers, we should be aware that our clients are engaging with all of these tools on and offline to communicate with friends, research products and services and much more. These tools shape the way we interact, how we interact with others and how new information is organized. Brian Solis, Principal of<a href="http://www.future-works.com/"> FutureWorks</a>, explain he's map like this "The conversation map is a living, breathing representation of Social Media and will evolve as services and conversation channels emerge, fuse, and dissipate."</span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" ><br /><br />Marcos J. Menendez<br />President<a href="http://www.loopconsulting.com/"><br />www.loopconsulting.com</a></span><br /><img src="file:///C:/Users/Marcos/AppData/Local/Temp/moz-screenshot-4.jpg" alt="" />Loop Consulting Grouphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03513857488625232290noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12132948.post-29095019824557368012008-08-27T11:45:00.005-04:002008-08-27T11:59:28.823-04:00Drive-Thru: Online Marketing Essentials Seminar- Sept. 18th- Rizt-Carlton Coconut Grove, Miami<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.loopconsulting.com/emi/seminar2008/"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" src="http://www.loopconsulting.com/emi/images/2008-invitation-screenshot.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style=";font-family:Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:85%;" >A breakfast meeting, designed as a "get in, get out" mini-seminar on what every online marketing and communications manager should know. We will talk about the tools and tactics currently in use, and their performance for online marketing and communications.<span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />Topics:<br /><br />Search Engine Optimization</span>: What are the 3 things you should do to make sure your website is found by search engines. The top 5 SEO<br />myths and how to avoid them.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Mobile Marketing</span>: The do’s and don’ts of mobile.</span><span style=";font-family:Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:85%;" > How to use and integrate the mobile channel. How to design a successful (SMS) text campaign.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Video</span>: How to best use video? What does it cost to produce? What kind of results tracking can I expect?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Social Marketing</span>: What are the benefits to the brand? How to get started? How to monitor your reputation? What to do right and what to avoid?</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">The promise: In a little over an hour, you will get an overall understating of which online marketing tools are delivering good results. It will be quick, fun, and informative, and will provide you with actionable ideas you can implement yourself.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Speaker</span>: Marcos Menendez, President Loop Consulting Group</span><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Date</span>: Thursday, September 18th, 2008</span><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Where</span>: Amadeus Salon, Ritz Carlton Hotel- Coconut Grove- Map</span><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Time</span>: 8:30 am Breakfast; 9:00am to 11:00am</span><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Cost</span>: Complimentary RSVP A Must: Cinthya M. Longarte, clongarte (at) loopconsulting (dot) com or 305.271.9915</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" ><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.loopconsulting.com/emi/seminar2008/"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 86px; height: 86px;" src="http://www.loopconsulting.com/emi/images/2008-emi-register-now_smll.gif" alt="" border="0" /></a></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br /></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:85%;" ><br /> </span>Loop Consulting Grouphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03513857488625232290noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12132948.post-40889400028584024992008-08-23T15:10:00.007-04:002008-08-25T13:06:19.504-04:00Social Networks Help Pick Our Next President<span style="font-size:85%;"><span style=""><span style="font-family: verdana; font-weight: bold;">The Power of Social Media: Digg Your New President?</span><br /><br /></span></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.webresourcesdepot.com/wp-content/uploads/image/icon-social-bookmark.png"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 191px; height: 159px;" src="http://www.webresourcesdepot.com/wp-content/uploads/image/icon-social-bookmark.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family: verdana;font-size:85%;" >As a writer, I’m naturally curious, and I’m always looking for new research tools. So recently, I decided to become involved in social networking, or as it’s beginning to be called, “the new media”. I wanted to experience this rapidly growing phenomenon for myself, and I also wanted to see if there was true marketing potential there.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family: verdana;font-size:85%;" >Since Digg appears to be the largest and most popular, I chose to join there. All I can say is, “Wow.” At first glance, it seemed almost like something from a Superman comic; </span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">suddenly, everyone seemed to be Lois Lane or Jimmy Olsen, rushing to get their story on the front page of the Daily Planet. But as I “dugg deeper”, I quickly realized that social networks are rapidly becoming the preferred way for millions of people to consume content on the web. And even though I’m not technically a marketer, even I could see the vast marketing potential that lies within the social network media.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">Want proof of the growing power of social networks? Well, here you go: CBS News and Katie Couric have posted a video on Digg, asking members to submit questions for the Presidential candidates; Ms. Couric then suggests that perhaps some of these questions will be presented on the CBS Evening News, or even asked to the candidates themselves at the conventions. In my opinion, if the national news media is starting to recognize social networks as a viable media source, then that makes them a force to be reckoned with.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">But wait, there’s more. At this year’s Democratic Convention, to be held at the Pepsi Center in Denver, CO, approximately 50 bloggers (one from each state), have been given press passes and access to the Convention. Digg then announced that they will be sponsoring a 9,000 sq. ft. tent, called “Big Tent Denver”, just outside the Pepsi Center, to accommodate more members of the “new media” to participate in the Convention via blogs, podcasts, and more. Although the number of bloggers allowed access to the Big Tent is still unclear, it’s definitely evidence that social networks are gaining power.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">There are still those that feel that social media is just another passing trend. But even if that’s true, the very core of marketing is about following and capitalizing on trends. And who knows? Maybe twenty years from now, instead of going to the voting booth, we may be going to the computer and simply “digging” our vote for our next President.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">(Oh, by the way, feel free to post this to Digg…)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">Kathryn Smith</span><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">Chief Editor</span><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://www.loopconsulting.com/">www.loopconsulting.com</a><br /></span>Loop Consulting Grouphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03513857488625232290noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12132948.post-24786901423950096412008-08-15T15:59:00.006-04:002008-08-15T16:18:59.519-04:00Miami Dade College to Launch New Online Campaign<span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">Spotlight on </span><st1:place style="font-weight: bold;" st="on"><st1:placetype st="on">School</st1:placetype> of <st1:placename st="on">Community</st1:placename></st1:place><span style="font-weight: bold;"> Education </span><o:p></o:p></span> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><o:p></o:p></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_jOQsqmFOQjA/SKXkJfXVvlI/AAAAAAAAAAY/CidsocisiJQ/s1600-h/logo_73.gif"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_jOQsqmFOQjA/SKXkJfXVvlI/AAAAAAAAAAY/CidsocisiJQ/s200/logo_73.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5234840993577418322" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><st1:place st="on"><st1:city st="on"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Miami</span></st1:city><span style="line-height: 115%;">, <st1:state st="on">Florida</st1:state></span></st1:place></span><span style="line-height: 115%;font-size:85%;" >, July 15, 2008: </span><span style="line-height: 115%;font-size:85%;" >The </span><span style="line-height: 115%;font-size:85%;" >Miami Dade College School of Community Education has hired Loop Consulting Group to create an integrated online marketing campaign which will feature an eNewsletter called “Learn. Grow. Succeed.”. The college hopes to increase Community Education enrollment across all eight campuses. This campaign aligns itself with MDC’s mission to make education more accessible to the public by providing Community Education course schedules and enrollment online. The goal of the campaign is to generate awareness and inform prospective Community Education students that training and education for personal and professional growth is accessible and available to all <st1:place st="on"><st1:placename st="on">Miami</st1:placename> <st1:placename st="on">Dade</st1:placename> <st1:placetype st="on">County</st1:placetype></st1:place> residents. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-size:85%;" >Geoffrey Gathercole, School Director, stated, “We’re pleased to be working with Loop Consulting Group.<span style=""> </span>We’re very confident that this project will let the public know that the Miami Dade College School of Community Education can help anyone attain their educational and professional goals, regardless of what those goals may be.”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-family:verdana;">Marcos J. Menendez, President of Loop Consulting Group added, “We are delighted to be involved, and grateful to MDC for continuing to entrust their online marketing efforts to us. We look forward to developing a very successful program</span> for the Miami Dade College School of Community Education.”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;" >Loop Consulting Group is a Miami, FL, based internet marketing firm, dedicated to helping organizations and businesses reach their online sales and communications goals. Loop Consulting Group specializes in Integrated Online Marketing Communications (IOMC), which focuses all online marketing and advertising into a single digital voice.<span style=""> </span>Loop Consulting Group creates powerful winning strategies for organizations and businesses that transition to the online marketplace across all channels.</span><i style=""><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:8;" ><o:p></o:p></span></i></p>Loop Consulting Grouphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03513857488625232290noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12132948.post-76670141342999183472008-07-28T15:44:00.004-04:002008-12-10T19:33:17.185-05:00There’s A New Search Engine In Town: Cuil Review<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_jOQsqmFOQjA/SI4iPLDy4vI/AAAAAAAAAAQ/u9gDnhGleW4/s1600-h/Cuil+Home+Page.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_jOQsqmFOQjA/SI4iPLDy4vI/AAAAAAAAAAQ/u9gDnhGleW4/s200/Cuil+Home+Page.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5228153861485814514" border="0" /></a><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" >Cuil pronounced “cool” (use a heavy Irish accent) is the creation of ex-Google brain Anna Patterson who said to <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2008/07/28/technology/cuil.ap/">CNN</a> that her new search engine offers “better ways to search”. <o:p></o:p></span> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><o:p></o:p>I’m always interested in better ways to find what I’m looking for, so I visited <a href="http://www.cuil.com/">www.cuil.com</a> to give it a test:<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><o:p></o:p><span style="font-weight: bold;">What I liked:</span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;font-family:verdana;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="">1.<span style=""> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size:85%;">Simple home page, ala Google<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;font-family:verdana;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="">2.<span style=""> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size:85%;">Suggestive search box (based on what you type, it suggests words)<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;font-family:verdana;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="">3.<span style=""> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size:85%;">Folder style tabs recommending additional content sections (nice, requires less thinking, I think)<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;font-family:verdana;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="">4.<span style=""> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size:85%;">More visually appealing than Google<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">What I didn’t like:</span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;font-family:verdana;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="">1.<span style=""> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size:85%;">Results seemed scattered on the page, but this probably because I’m used to scanning the page from top-to-bottom and Cuil presents results in a three column format.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;font-family:verdana;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="">2.<span style=""> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size:85%;">Some results seemed a little confusing since they appeared with images along side and the image may not be relevant to the content.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">Even though Cuil has $33M in venture funding and it’s just a couple of days old, I’m not sure if it’s unique enough to make a dent in Google’s armor. What I do like is that fact that people are trying to improve on the standards and even change them and this is how we all win.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:14;" ><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" >But the ultimate judge of performance is you, <a href="http://www.cuil.com/">www.cuil.com</a></span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>Loop Consulting Grouphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03513857488625232290noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12132948.post-58480603619272700972008-07-19T13:56:00.003-04:002008-07-19T14:03:19.349-04:00How to Make Your Website Search Engine Friendly<span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" >Google engineer Matt Cutts, who’s quite popular with the techies, offered some simple yet great advice on how to make your website easier to find by your prospective customers.<br /><br />Here’s a quick summary of what he says to USA Today in his interview:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">1</span>. Add “keywords” to your site’s content; keywords are the words you think people will use to find your site when they use a search engine. The more keywords you use in your content, the easier your site will be to find.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">2</span>. Title Tags and Description Tags are the information Google displays about your website in the results page.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">3</span>. The more people that link to your website the better. People will link to your content if it’s interesting and of value. (By the way, please link to me!)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">4</span>. Advertising on Google does not get you preferred treatment. You will not rank higher in the free results because you advertise.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">5</span>. Normally, Google refreshes its entire inventory once a month. This means that Google may visit your site to look for new content every 30 days. However, don’t wait a month for Google to visit your site; submit your site to Google at <a href="http://www.google.com/addurl">http://www.google.com/addurl</a>.<br /><br />I’m not the best person to summarize interviews, but if you liked the tips above, I’d recommend taking time to watch the five-minute video interview and hear it straight from the horse’s mouth.</span><br /><br /><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/5GK0aQrCDEo&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/5GK0aQrCDEo&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" height="344" width="425"></embed></object>Loop Consulting Grouphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03513857488625232290noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12132948.post-40418190767694359822008-07-15T19:00:00.003-04:002008-07-16T17:05:09.654-04:00The Power of the “Oops, We Made A Mistake” Email<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-weight: normal;font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" >On her July 7<sup>th</sup> article “Top E-mail Tips to Drive Response”, <a href="http://www.clickz.com/3622881">Jeanniey Mullen</a> from The ClickZ Network shares some tips about driving email response. She mentions that forms (search, first name, telephone, etc.) and rich media (Flash, animated .gif’s) work well in terms of getting action (clicks or completions), but forms and animated graphics may be blocked by some email clients. This is so, because in the fight against spam and viruses most email programs, especially web-based email clients (Yahoo, Gmail, Hotmail, etc.), block embedded forms and Flash files.<o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-weight: normal;font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" ></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-weight: normal;font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" >What comes right to your inbox and gets a ton of readership is honesty; yes, old- fashioned acceptance of a mistake turns out to get a lot of readership. If you think about it, it makes a lot of sense, because everyone likes it when you “come clean” and apologize for a mistake, then you admit guilt and ask for mercy. <o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-weight: normal;font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" ><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-weight: normal;font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" >This works just as well face-to-face as it does in email communications. I’m not suggesting you start sending apologies to your clients and prospective clients to improve your email marketing success; what I want to bring to light is that if you make a mistake, it is important to apologize quickly and take the opportunity to increase readership by offering amends… and a promotional coupon, offer, or incentive.<o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-weight: normal;font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" ><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-weight: normal;font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" >Want proof of the power of apology? Check out JetBlue CEO David Neeleman’s video apology. <span style=""> </span>Take a look at the very positive comments below and don’t overlook the fact that the video has over 329,000 viewings.</span></p><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><object height="244" width="325"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/-r_PIg7EAUw&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/-r_PIg7EAUw&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" height="344" width="425"></embed></object>Loop Consulting Grouphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03513857488625232290noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12132948.post-6267873960711761702008-06-30T13:58:00.007-04:002008-07-15T19:08:39.522-04:00Voices for Children to Partner with Loop Consulting Group<span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" >Children’s Advocacy Group Hopes to Raise Funds, Awareness</span><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; line-height: normal;"><b><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:10;" ><o:p></o:p></span></b><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.loopconsulting.com/emi/images/logo-v4c.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; width: 85px; cursor: pointer; height: 86px;" alt="" src="http://www.loopconsulting.com/emi/images/logo-v4c.jpg" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><st1:place st="on"><st1:city st="on"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:10;" >Miami</span></st1:city><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:10;" >, <st1:state st="on">Florida</st1:state></span></st1:place><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:10;" >, June 19, 2008: </span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:10;" ><span style="font-size:0;"></span>Voices For Children Foundation<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>has selected Loop Consulting Group as their integrated marketing communications partner, in charge of their online communications and rebranding efforts.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>Voices For Children Foundation (<a href="http://www.voices4.org/">http://www.voices4.org/</a>) is responsible for raising funds to support Miami-Dade’s Guardian Ad Litem (GAL) Program.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>The ultimate goal of the GAL Program is to provide every abused, abandoned, and neglected child in Miami-Dade with a representative voice to speak in the best interests of dependent children in court proceedings. Additionally, Voices For Children raises money to support the medical, emotional, and social needs of these children. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:10;" ><o:p></o:p></span><st1:personname st="on"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:10;" >Nestor Rodriguez</span></st1:personname><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:10;" >, Voices’ Chief Executive Officer stated, “Voices is entering a critical stage in our developmental and organizational growth.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>We’re very excited about partnering with Loop Consulting Group at this particular time, and look forward to working together to benefit the lives of the abused, abandoned, and neglected children we serve.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:10;" ><o:p></o:p></span><st1:personname st="on"><st1:personname st="on"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:10;" >Caro</span></st1:personname><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:10;" >lina Schwarz</span></st1:personname><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:10;" >, Voices’ Director of Communications, added, “From our initial meetings, Loop looked at both our developmental and marketing initiatives from a holistic perspective, and asked questions that noted deep interest in our activities.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>We’re very excited about the ambitious plans already in place for our future online integrated communications initiatives, which will deliver effective fundraising and awareness-raising results.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:10;" ><span style="font-size:85%;"><o:p></o:p>Loop Consulting Group’s President, Marcos J. Menendez, also stated, “We’re thrilled to be working together for such a worthy cause.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>It’s a great honor, and an excellent opportunity for us to give back to the community by using our marketing talents and expertise to help raise awareness for<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>Voices For Children Foundation, which will propel this cause forward.”</span> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:10;" ><o:p></o:p></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:8;" ><o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-size:78%;"><i><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:8;" ><br /></span></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><i><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:8;" >Loop Consulting Group is a Miami, FL, based internet marketing firm, dedicated to helping organizations and businesses reach their online sales and communications goals. Loop Consulting Group specializes in Integrated Online Marketing Communications (IOMC), which focuses all online marketing and advertising into a single digital voice.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>Loop Consulting Group creates powerful winning strategies for organizations and businesses that transition to the online marketplace across all channels.<o:p></o:p></span></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; line-height: normal;"><i><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:8;" ><br /><o:p></o:p></span></i></p>Loop Consulting Grouphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03513857488625232290noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12132948.post-89843464216341077392008-06-23T18:12:00.001-04:002008-06-23T18:14:51.792-04:00Integrated Marketing: A Marketer’s Primary Concern<p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: Verdana;">According to a study done by the <a href="http://www.ana.net/news/content/1251">Association of National Advertisers</a>, “achieving effective IMC (Integrated Marketing Communications) campaigns is a marketer’s primary concern.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: Verdana;">Bob Liodice, President of the Association of National Advertisers (ANA), goes on to say, “Although 74% of firms we've surveyed say they are using IMC approaches for most or all of their brands, only 25% rated the quality of their IMC programs "excellent" or "very good" -- underscoring the need to identify best practices and address the barriers that can impede IMC efforts.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: Verdana;">The ANA and Mr. Liodice label the barriers to IMC as:<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in; text-indent: -0.25in; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: Verdana; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 153, 0);"><span style="">1.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Strategic Consistency</span><o:p></o:p></span></span><!--[endif]--></p> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: Verdana;"><span style=""> </span>“An IMC campaign should start with a compelling consumer insight that can be translated into a strong, differentiated marketing strategy. This leads to the development of a creative "brand idea" that drives each discipline's tactics.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: Verdana;"><span style=""> </span>Simply put, this means that the message must be consistent across all customer touch points.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <h3 style="margin-left: 0.25in; text-indent: -0.25in; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: Verdana; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 153, 0);"><span style="">2.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: Verdana; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Common Measurement Process</span><o:p></o:p></span></span><!--[endif]--></h3> <h3 style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: Verdana; font-weight: normal;">“Although organizations have become more skilled in crunching numbers, there is no single, consistent set of metrics that transcends discipline-centric measurements.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></h3> <h3 style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: Verdana; font-weight: normal;">This is true for now; all metrics, whether they’re email open rates or website sale conversions, are being gathered by separate sets of systems. What we do at <st1:place st="on">Loop</st1:place> is manually gather the data of the campaigns and organize it in a dashboard format for the client to see. Soon, metric companies will start to design applications that organize all marketing data into one integrated dashboard, but for the time being, we have to make do with manual gathering.<o:p></o:p></span></span></h3> <h3 style="margin-left: 0.25in; text-indent: -0.25in; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: Verdana; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 153, 0);"><span style="">3.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: Verdana; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Functional Silos</span><o:p></o:p></span></span><!--[endif]--></h3> <h3 style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: Verdana; font-weight: normal;">“For too long, marketing functions have been vertically organized by media type. This “silo” approach is mirrored on the agency side, with rewards based on discipline-specific P&L models.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></h3> <h3 style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: Verdana; font-weight: normal;">What Bob is saying is that marketing spending has traditionally been arranged by the type of media to be purchased. Instead of taking an overall look at what the message is meant to say to all customers, we design the message based on the type of media in the budget. For example, if we need to talk about four product features, a TV or email message can mention them all; conversely, you can only fit so much onto an outdoor sign, so the message is altered in exchange for the type of media purchased.<o:p></o:p></span></span></h3> <h3 style="margin-left: 0.25in; text-indent: -0.25in; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: Verdana; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 153, 0);"><span style="">4.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: Verdana; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Professional Skills</span><o:p></o:p></span></span><!--[endif]--></h3> <h3 style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: Verdana; font-weight: normal;">“Achieving strategic integration requires a top-to-bottom reinvention of the marketing organization. This transformation must be led by "renaissance marketers" -- a new breed of holistic professionals who are system thinkers, customer-centric believers, innovators, and dreamers.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></h3> <h3><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: Verdana; font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">I think top-to-bottom reinvention can be a little drastic, but I do agree with an organizational change in marketing philosophy. In order for a company to truly achieve an integrated message, the company and all its directors must view the message from the customer’s perspective, and then tailor the distribution of the message based on an overall view of all customer touch-points.</span><o:p></o:p></span></span></h3> <h3><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; font-weight: normal;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></h3>Loop Consulting Grouphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03513857488625232290noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12132948.post-31326234272341550162008-06-14T18:40:00.003-04:002008-06-14T18:55:00.451-04:00Content Relevance Kills Content Perfection<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">Vin Crosbie of The ClickZ Network on his article <a href="http://www.clickz.com/showPage.html?page=3629894">Good Enough Triumphs Over Perfection</a> writes “Once content is good enough to be relevant, it needn't be perfect.”<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">He is referring to the way traditional media (TV, Newspapers and Radio) views the level of quality and perfection needed to distribute a message. Crosbie goes on to saying “YouTube has triumphed over the traditional video networks online, despite all their investments. Wikipedia, despite inaccuracies, has triumphed over Encyclopaedia Britannica and other publishers who attempt perfection. Google News and Yahoo News each have more users than the Web sites of any newspaper or news broadcaster. All because their content, although not perfect, is good enough.”<o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">On the web we don’t seem to mind if the message is not placed on a flawlessly designed website or if the video showing you how to fix your particular problem is not adequately lit as long as we can find what we are looking for.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">The reason for this is that all of us use the web for one thing…and that is to find answers to what we are looking to solve. And if we find the answers we don’t seem to care much if they are not presented in the best “paper”.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:10;" ><span style="font-size:85%;"><o:p style="font-family: verdana;"></o:p><span style="font-family:verdana;">This does not mean that you should through your brand’s image out the door and forget quality and creativeness, it just makes a point that relevance of message and timing to market are more important that a flawless look.</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" >I'll have a hard time selling this to our designers... : )</span><br /><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:10;" ><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"></span></span><o:p></o:p></span></p>Loop Consulting Grouphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03513857488625232290noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12132948.post-8146447077986717572008-06-07T15:24:00.004-04:002008-06-14T18:55:22.370-04:0037 Things You Should Check Before Sending An Email- Seth Godin’s Email Check List<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">Author and marketing genius <a href="http://sethgodin.typepad.com/about.html">Seth Godin</a> has presented a list of <a href="http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2008/06/email-checklist.html">36 points</a> you should consider before sending out an email to one person or a group. </span><span style="font-size:85%;">From a marketing perspective</span><span style="font-size:85%;"> my favorite points are:</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style=""><span style="font-weight: bold;"> 19.</span> </span><span style=""> </span>Do I have my contact info at the bottom? (If not, consider adding it).</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"> 21.</span> <span style=""> </span>Could this email be shorter?</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style=""><span style="font-weight: bold;"> 36</span>.</span><span style=""> </span>If I had to pay 42 cents to send this email, would I?</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">I’m going to suggest to Seth one more point, point number 37.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"> 37.</span> Did this email add any value what so ever for the recipient? Did it make them smarter? More informed about something they care about? Did it help improve their professional or personal life in any way?</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">Inbox attention is getting more and more precious for you and your prospective clients. This mean everyone has to quickly prioritize what they will pay attention to. Make sure that what you deliver is worth their time and attention.</span></p>Loop Consulting Grouphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03513857488625232290noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12132948.post-5479848913665954972008-05-17T18:21:00.010-04:002008-06-19T15:32:36.780-04:00Your Friends Will Have A Say In Everything: Web-Wide Social Networks?<span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.google.com/friendconnect/static/images/opensocial.gif"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 274px; height: 226px;" src="http://www.google.com/friendconnect/static/images/opensocial.gif" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">The Adage.com “</span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://adage.com/digital/article?article_id=127012">Coming Soon: A Web-Wide Social Network?</a><span style="font-family:verdana;">” article picks up on the continual evolution of the “socialization” of the web, the continued expansion towards further connecting us to one another. The idea of a web wide social platform that extends beyond the walls of Facebook and MySpace into every page we visit and allows our network of contacts to follow us, is in sync with the way the web works.</span> <span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /><br />For marketers this means more of what we have seen over the past few years, more people with more ways to talk about our product and brands. And the continued effort to centralize and gage in real-time that overall opinion of our products and services.</span> <span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /><br />I don’t know how far we are from this but </span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://www.google.com/friendconnect/">Google Friend Connect,</a><span style="font-family:verdana;"> Facebook and MySpace are certainly moving in the direction of a web-wide social network. I’m sure we will hear a lot more about this in the coming months.</span> <span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /><br />Marcos J. Menendez</span> <span style="font-family:verdana;"><br />President</span> <span style="font-family:verdana;">Loop Consulting Group -Integrated Online Marketing-</span> <span style="font-family:verdana;"><br />www.loopconsulting.com</span></span>Loop Consulting Grouphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03513857488625232290noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12132948.post-10420198318292445842008-05-10T16:44:00.004-04:002008-06-09T14:35:48.298-04:00The Marketing Agency of the Future<span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">We know the future of online marketing agencies lies in the ability for the agency to understand, produce and harness online communications technology and merge the technology with creative and targeted results oriented marketing.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Loop recognizes that the new challenges for marketers within corporations will be technical awareness of communications solutions and the ability to use and integrate them in their overall marketing objectives. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">The marketing consulting agency of the future will have to have a mix of talent that can develop and understand software design and integration with marketing knowhow in order to provide the solutions that will send brands apart from their competitors.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Loop Consulting Group is positioned in the market to help Chief Marketing Officers understand, evaluate and execute their online marketing efforts into a sustainable, value driven, accountable and integrated brand and product position.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Marcos J. Menendez</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">President</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Loop Consulting Group</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">www.loopconsulting.com</span></span>Loop Consulting Grouphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03513857488625232290noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12132948.post-49931051071478689912008-02-15T10:43:00.018-05:002008-02-18T10:42:33.145-05:00<span style="font-size:85%;"><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><b style=""><span style=""><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0);"> Interview: eMarketing Tips, Mistakes and Best Bets<br /></span></span></b></span></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">I was recently interviewed by Décor Magazine, the oldest and most prestigious national print publication for the art gallery and framing industry. Décor asked me about internet marketing and how it can help its core readers, which are mostly high-end art gallery owners.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Below you will find my answers to Décor's interview and an audio podcast of the interview.</span><br /></span><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.loopconsulting.com/media/Marcos.mp3" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.loopconsulting.com/emi/images/loop-media-player.jpg" border="0" height="130" width="300" /></a><br /></div><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" >1) Tell me as much about your background as you're comfortable with-- family, education, professional life, and how you got into online marketing and communications.</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">A. I was imported from San Juan, Puerto Rico to Miami, FL by the software giant Oracle Corp. to launch the Internet Sales Division for Latin America and the Caribbean. This was during the pre-internet bubble days, or 1999, when times where great for technology, big salaries, and big budgets. While I was with Oracle, I was introduced to the world of online marketing and communications. Soon enough, I realized that eNewsletters were our best performing marketing tool and I thought that perhaps there was an opportunity to show other companies how to use them. So I gathered my courage and left Oracle to start Loop.</span><br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" >2) Tell me about Loop Consulting Group and the extent of your duties as President. What exactly is the company and what does it do?</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">A. Loop Consulting Group helps organizations use the Internet to achieve their online marketing, communications, and revenue goals. We specialize in the use and integration of online communications tools like websites and search engine optimization, eNewsletters, business blogs, and online video production and distribution.</span><br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" >3) What unique challenges face small, independently owned businesses in trying to get their marketing messages out? Obviously, smaller budgets, but what else? How can they overcome these challenges?</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><b style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><br /></b><span style="font-family:verdana;">A. I think one of the biggest challenges is choosing the right marketing vehicle, or marketing tools options. There are dozens of ways for a business to get their message out. Businesses can use tools to increase website visibility, they can set up a "pay-per-click" program, add an eNewsletter, a blog, or an online video. They can also use podcasting, writing articles for trade publications, adding sponsor sites, banner ads and so on. The best way to overcome the communication vehicle selection process is to define, as specifically as possible, who the target audience is and then determine where they are online. Once this is established, then select the best tool to reach them. For example, if your target audience is tourists that come by your gallery, find out what they read or where they go online to find information about your city's art galleries; this could be a good place to position your message or sponsor.</span><b style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><br /></b></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" >4) What are the biggest misperceptions that businesses have about online marketing? Why do they have these misperceptions? How do you cure them of said misperceptions?</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><b style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><br /></b><span style="font-family:verdana;">A. It's a mix between traditional marketing, the way things have always been done, and a new online channel. People tend to think that because they don't personally use the web, email, or search engines, then no one else does either. There are approximately 6 billion humans on earth, and from that number, </span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm" target="_blank">1.3 billion</a><span style="font-family:verdana;"> connect to the web in some way or another. I remember when the internet was called a trend, and now it's they way things get done.</span><br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" >5) What are the biggest mistakes that uninformed companies make when starting their own online marketing efforts? What are some pitfalls to avoid?</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><b style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><br /></b><span style="font-family:verdana;">I think assuming that by having only a website, you are covered. A website is a home base for information; the next step is to tell others what you are doing.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Ways of getting your message out to your audience are eNewsletters, properly designed websites for search engine visibility, and publishing or updating the website with new content.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">In terms of pitfalls, I always stress that online marketing involves persistence and focus on objectives and measurement. There is no quick, get-it-now solution to increase sales; there's only reasonable judgment, execution, and measurement of efforts.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">So beware of offers that promise to get you first place in Google for 20 bucks a month. If this was true, it would be like controlling search results, and I think Google would agree with me on this.</span><br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" >6) What are the most crucial tips you can give people who'd like to achieve successful online marketing programs?</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><b style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></b><span style="font-family:verdana;">The beauty of the web is in its ability to launch products, services, and information in real-time, and then test it for results. No other medium lets you actually test the message with the actual audience in its fully functional environment. The web allows you to track all the activity and monitor results in real-time. This allows you to measure your success or potential right away; if you like what you see, keep building it--if you don't, fix it, retry, or delete. But you must try new channels!</span><b style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><br /></b></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" >7) The art and framing industry is one with very visually-oriented products and services. With that in mind, do you have any ideas for specific things people in this industry should include in their online marketing efforts?</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><b style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><br /></b><span style="font-family:verdana;">High-resolution images and professionally-taken pictures or video of your product is absolutely essential. Not only is the product displayed in all its beauty, but high-quality images communicate to web viewers that the company is a credible and serious source. Ask yourself if you would make a purchase online from website that was unorganized, with missing pages and small, grainy product pictures. That's why many successful online retailers allow you to enlarge pictures of their products. Also, these pictures or video can be included in your website, eNewsletters, email campaigns, Facebook, etc. Once the product is properly captured, you can reposition the same media in as many channels as you think will be effective.</span><b style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><br /></b></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" >8) Tell me more about the 80/20 rule. Are there any instances where a company can get away with including more than 20% advertising in a newsletter/article? Why are 80 and 20 the magic numbers?</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><b style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><br /></b><span style="font-family:verdana;">The 80/20 rule is just a rule of thumb or an easy to remember tip. It comes from the old marketing saying that 80% of your sales come from 20% of your customers, so you should focus most of your marketing efforts on that 20%, since they generate the most revenue. When it comes to content, the 80/20 rule helps give the writers a guideline so they focus the message on what matters most to the reader; that should be 80% of your content. The remaining 20% you may use for advertising and promotion, and this applies to every tool--websites, emails, etc.</span><b style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><br /></b></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" >9) What has been your greatest success in online marketing?</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><b style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><br /></b><span style="font-family:verdana;">Marketing is a work in progress, part art and part science. A campaign that is successful today may not be successful tomorrow. By using different online tools, we've created very successful campaigns for the following clients:</span></span><b><br /><br /><img src="http://www.loopconsulting.com/emi/images/ps_logo_2_01.gif" height="46" width="250" /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Pet Supermarket</span></span></b><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">- a large chain of stores that carries pet food and related products. We created an eNewsletter called "PetScoop" following the 80/20 rule. (80% content on advice about pet care and 20% on advertising and promotional.)</span><br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" >Results: </span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">By using the survey tool at the bottom of each issue, we've found that 60% of the readers find the advice "useful", so they keep opening the eNewsletter issue after issue. With an engaged audience, you see results such as 50% of the readers requesting the special saving coupon. That coupon costs the company nearly nothing to send, and absolutely nothing to print. These savings coupons are then taken to the store, and this means sales. "</span></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" >PetScoop</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">" </span></span><a href="http://www.loopconsulting.com/projects/pets/january2008/" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">current issue...</span></span><b><br /><br /></b></a><b><img src="http://www.loopconsulting.com/emi/images/lbatv-logo-darkred_xsmll.jpg" height="66" width="115" /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">The Latin Builders Association</span></span></b><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"> is South Florida's most influential professional association for the advocacy of real estate development. We create and produce an online video channel called LBATV.</span><br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" >Results:</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><b style="font-family: verdana;"> </b><span style="font-family:verdana;">The response from the members has been overwhelming, and the response from the organization's sponsors has been even better. All the member companies want to sponsor an episode, and that means revenue for the organization. But what I like most about LBATV is the ability to use video to raise the image of the organization within the community and region. Video allows people to "see" what kind of work the organization does, whether it is to bring 1,800 brand new bicycles to underprivileged kids or set the stage for interaction between political leaders and business leaders. </span></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" >LBATV</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"> </span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=latin+builder+association&hl=en&sitesearch=" target="_blank">video archive...</a><b style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><br /></b></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" >10) How much do e-mail monitoring and spam filter-penetrating services cost? Are they worth it for small businesses? Why or why not?</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><b style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><br /></b><span style="font-family:verdana;">Prices range depending on the sophistication of the software and your network needs. Most small businesses already receive some kind of anti-spam protection at their PC level or ISP level.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">But they're worth it from an efficiency standpoint, because they protect the small business from wasting time and resources that could be best used in other tasks instead of inbox cleaning or spam deleting. So I would recommend that businesses purchase these services at the highest level that they can afford.</span><b style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><br /></b><span style="font-family:verdana;">As always, we are here to help. If you are interested in enhancing your online marketing communications efforts, </span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="mailto:mmenendez@loopconsulting.com">contact us</a><span style="font-family:verdana;">.</span><br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" >Marcos J. Menendez</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">President Loop Consulting Group, LLC</span><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://www.loopconsulting.com/" target="_blank">www.loopconsulting.com</a><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">mmenendez (at)loopconsulting (dot)com</span><b style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><br />###<br /><br /></b></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0); font-weight: bold;font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" >Congratulations!</span><br /><b><br /><img src="http://www.loopconsulting.com/emi/images/apex-logo-smll.jpg" height="71" width="216" /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Apex Logistics Corp. </span></span></b><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">is an industry-leading custom logistics planning and freight forwarding company. With the help of </span></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0); font-weight: bold;font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" >Loop Consulting Group</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">, they have successfully launched their brand online. LCG designed the new brand image and delivered it online through the creation of a new website supported by an automated freight quoting system and a strong search engine optimization program. We included the latest website analytics technology designed to measure and quantify the amount of total visitors that turn into new sales.</span><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">View their </span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://apexlogisticscorp.com/index.html" target="_blank">inaugural website</a><span style="font-family:verdana;">.</span></span><br /><p></p>Loop Consulting Grouphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03513857488625232290noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12132948.post-43531766805180194872008-01-29T17:34:00.000-05:002008-01-29T17:38:52.636-05:00<span style="font-size:85%;"><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><b style=""><span style=""><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Loop-Decor Magazine Interview Excerpt</span></span></b></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:verdana;" ><br /><br />What are the biggest mistakes that uninformed companies make when starting their own online marketing efforts? What are some pitfalls to avoid?</span><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /><br />I think assuming that with only the website you are covered. A website is a home base for information; the next step is to tell others what you are doing. </span><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /><br />Ways of getting your message out to your audience are eNewsletter, properly designed websites for search engine visibility and publishing or updating the website with new content.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:verdana;">In terms of pitfalls, I always stress that online marketing involves persistence and focus on objectives and measurement. There is no quick, get-it-now solution to increase sales, only reasonable judgment, execution and measurement of efforts.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:verdana;">So, beware of offers that promise to get you first place in Google for 20 bucks a month. If this was true, it would be like controlling search results and I don’t think Google would agree.<br /><br /></span></span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;" ><span style=""><strong>Marcos J. Menendez</strong></span><br /><span style="">President</span> <span style=""><br />Loop Consulting Group <a href="http://www.loopconsulting.com/">www.loopconsulting.com </a></span><br /><span style="">mmenendez(at)loopconsulting(dot)com</span></span>Loop Consulting Grouphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03513857488625232290noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12132948.post-30723401027291447052007-11-05T16:53:00.000-05:002007-12-12T15:17:06.265-05:00<span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;color:#ff9900;"><strong>Keys to Success: Search Engine Optimization and Blogs</strong></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"></span><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Last month we presented our first annual "Drive Thru: Online Marketing Essentials Breakfast", a "get in, get out" mini-seminar about what every online marketing and communications manager should know. We talked about the tools and tactics currently in use, and their performance for online marketing and communications. We enjoyed a great turnout and to our good fortune, the majority of the participants (62%) found the seminar to be "Excellent".</span> <span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"></span><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">See what the event was like:</span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dz-YTL1eibdNzKwALibTwvzZRJa_jQZUR6sWlDuY0vnZvwtl60xozHIYQ6nP_TxqfWTVRc4kbo5EhQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;color:#ff9900;"><span style="color:#666666;">Drive Thru: Online MarketingEssentials Highlights Video</span> </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">From the "Drive Thru: Online Marketing Essentials Breakfast" survey, the majority of the participants found "Search Engine Optimization" and "Business Blogs" to be the topics they enjoyed most.We also talked about </span><a href="http://www.loopconsulting.com/emi/june2007/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Online Video</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"> and Podcasting, but I'll focus this issue of our eNewsletter on a quick summary of the "Keys to Success" for "Search Engine Optimization" and "Business Blogs" as presented during the seminar. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"><span style="color:#ff9900;"><strong>Search Engine Optimization- Keys to Success</strong></span> </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">1. <strong>Why is Search Engine Optimization (SEO) important?</strong> Because when prospective clients look for your product or service, your company's website should be one of the first to show up in the first page of the search results. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">2. <strong>Search Engine Market Share Focus:</strong> You have finite budget and resources to commit to SEO, so make sure you focus on the search engines that will deliver the most amount of traffic to your website. In today's market, Google is king. Google receives approximately 50% of all searches done online. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">3. <strong>Site Design:</strong> Your website needs to be designed so that search engines like Google and Yahoo easily pick up your website's content and add it to their database. This way, when people search for your product/service, the search engines will be able to display your company's information as part of the search results. Site design is a technical and broad topic, so I won't discuss it here. I will tell you that those </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adobe_Flash" target="_blank"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Adobe Flash</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"> based websites-- you know, those pretty, animated, "wait while the site uploads" websites-- are not indexed or recorded by search engines. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">4. <strong>Key Words</strong>: The best way to think of keywords is to think of a person using a search engine to search the web. The search engine field will ask the person to type in the keywords for whatever they're trying to find. If they're looking for pet food, they may type words like "dog, food, sale, Miami". The general idea is that your website is tailored so that the keywords potential clients may use are the same keywords found in your website's content. These are also the same keywords that search engines store in their databases in order to match the results and display an answer based on your query. Yes, it gets more technical, but that's the basic idea behind keywords. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"><strong><span style="color:#ff9900;">Business Blogs- Keys to Success</span></strong> </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">1. <strong>Why are blogs important?</strong> Because they are the fastest way to publish and distribute information online. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">2. <strong>Set Content Subject Matter and Objectives</strong>: Your blog needs to communicate to the potential readers what the blog is about and what they can expect from the blog's content. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">3. <strong>Publish Frequently</strong>: Blogs thrive based on regularly published content. How regularly? To the tune of two new entries per week. The content on a blog is quickly published and quickly consumed; that's why new content is vital to its ability to retain readers. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">4. <strong>Make It Useful</strong>: If you reposition the same information as everyone else then your content is not unique and the reader can get it everywhere. The idea is that you will talk about how the news or product affects your readers. That's what makes it useful. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">5. <strong>Use Your Keywords</strong>: You want to use your website keywords in your blog as well to help search engines display your blog as part of the search results. </span><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">The main idea that I communicated through Loop's "Drive Thru: Online Marketing Essentials" was that marketing and communication officers need to look at the online channels and determine how to present their messages in the mediums (blogs, eNewsletters, podcasts, videos, etc...) that will best appeal to their target audience, and not the other way around.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"><strong>Marcos J. Menendez</strong></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">President</span> <span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Loop Consulting Group, LLC</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">mmenendez(at)loopconsulting(dot)com</span>Loop Consulting Grouphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03513857488625232290noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12132948.post-43299529040625564082007-10-17T12:34:00.000-04:002007-12-12T17:02:11.856-05:00<span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;color:#ff9900;">Work Sample: Loop's Video Production for Latin Builders Association- July 2007 Luncheon at the Ritz Carlton</span><br /><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzxwCd4zcksntn6ViMGPRy9AtFqy_0FoIMrJVnHaWemjlsPiZGpnWMK4r42ODMJ2xreCUdcFYdPADM' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe>Loop Consulting Grouphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03513857488625232290noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12132948.post-24764775704268267372007-08-29T15:09:00.000-04:002007-10-17T12:32:22.727-04:00<div><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" ><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0);"></span></span></div><div><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" ><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0);"></span></span></div><div><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" ><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0);"></span></span> </div><div><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" ><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0);"></span></span> </div><div><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" ><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0);"></span></span> </div><div><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" ><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0);"></span></span> </div><div><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" ><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0);"></span></span> </div><div><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" ><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0);"></span></span> </div><div><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" ><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0);"></span></span> </div><div><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" ><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0);"></span></span> </div><div><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" ><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0);"></span></span> </div><div><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" ><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0);"></span></span> </div><div><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" ><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0);"></span></span> </div><div><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" ><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Drive-Thru: Online Marketing Essentials Breakfast<br /></span><br />A breakfast meeting, designed as a "get in, get out" mini-seminar on what every online marketing and communications manager should know. We will talk about the tools and tactics currently in use, and their performance for online marketing and communications.<br /><br />We will talk about: </span></div><br /><ul><br /><li><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" ><strong>Online video</strong>: Is it worth the time and investment? How to best use video? </span></li><br /><li><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" ><strong>Blogs</strong>, what's the bid deal? How do they work and how can they work for you? </span></li><br /><li><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" ><strong>Podcatsing</strong>: How can you use it? </span></li><br /><li><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" ><strong>Search engine marketing</strong> demystified, simplified, and how to know if your web designer is BS'ing you about it. </span></li><br /><li><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" >How tools like digg, del.icio.us, and reddit help you get your message to your audience. </span></li><br /><li><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" ><strong>Word-of-Mouth</strong>: The essential steps that make it work in a digital channel. </span></li></ul><br /><p><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" ><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">The promise</span>: In a little over an hour, you will get an overall understating of which online marketing tools are delivering good results. It will be quick, fun, and informative, and will provide you with actionable ideas you can implement yourself.<br /><br /><strong>Speaker</strong>: Marcos Menendez, President Loop Consulting Group<br /><strong>Date</strong>: September 13, 2007<br /><strong>Where</strong>: Amadeus Salon, Ritz Carlton Hotel- Coconut Grove, <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=3300+SW+27th+Ave,+Miami,+FL+USA&sll=25.751971,-80.235901&sspn=0.069112,0.113811&amp;amp;ie=UTF8&om=1&ll=25.731483,-80.23751&spn=0.008119,0.014226&z=16&iwloc=addr">Map</a><br /><strong>Time</strong>: 8:30 am Breakfast; 9:00am to 11:00am<br /><strong>Cost</strong>: Complementary-yes, we are good like that!<br /><strong>RSVP A Must</strong>: Cinthya M. Longarte, clongarte(at)loopconsulting(dot)com or click <a href="http://www.loopconsulting.com/emi/seminar/">here</a> for RSVP form.</span></p>Loop Consulting Grouphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03513857488625232290noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12132948.post-4794574890363631842007-08-15T17:16:00.000-04:002007-08-15T17:40:18.217-04:00<span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;color:#ff9900;"><strong>How To Use eNewsletter For Search Ranking</strong></span><br /><p><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Over the past few months I've noticed a change in the way search engines are displaying our clients' search results, particularly and specially Google, since Google accounts for about 46% of all searches online (Nielsen/NetRatings).</span><br /></p><p><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">I would type in our clients' name in the Google search box and the first page would display the client's website URL, as expected, but that's not the most interesting part. They thing that caught my attention was that the additional results were links to our clients' eNewsletters.The second, third, and sometimes fourth results were not the clients' other website pages, but past issues of their eNewsletters. I've always known that eNewsletters help with search ranking, but now I'm seeing this type of search outcome more than ever. </span></p><a href="http://www.loopconsulting.com/emi/images/binoculars.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 173px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 79px" height="103" alt="" src="http://www.loopconsulting.com/emi/images/binoculars.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><p><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Search engine developers are smart people; they design their </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_crawler" target="_blank"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">page crawlers</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"> or </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_crawler" target="_blank"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">spiders</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"> (the software used to index new pages) to search not only for keywords , but also for how the keywords are represented within the content.</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"></span></p><p><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">What does this mean? That the nature of the content of your eNewsletter, its value, and the right keywords are high priority elements to help your business get a top position on search results through your eNewsletters.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Don't take my word for it, try it... type in Google </span><a href="http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=hurricane+club+university+of+miami" target="_blank"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">University of Miami Hurricane Club</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"> and sure enough, their eNewsletter </span><a href="http://www.loopconsulting.com/projects/um/july2007/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Inside the U</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"> pops right up in the first page results. Of all the pages the University of Miami Hurricane Club has, their eNewsletter issues make it to the top of the results. These are first page results of over 1.3 million results, according to Google.<br /></span><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;color:#ff9900;"><strong></strong></span></p><p><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;color:#ff9900;"><strong>3 Key Elements Your eNewsletter Program Should Have to Help Your Business Search Ranking</strong></span><br /></p><ul><li><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"><strong>Key Words</strong>: Since most search engines index your pages based on your keywords, make sure that all your eNewsletters include keywords about your business. For example, this eNewsletter at the bottom of the issue includes keywords like "eNewsletter" "Marketing" and "Miami".</span></li><br /><br /><li><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"><strong>Search Friendly Design:</strong> </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_crawler" target="_blank"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Search engine crawlers </span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">are only able to read text and links found within simple HTML design. This means that if your content is part of an image and/or your eNewsletter is mostly images, you are not giving the search engine much content to work with and index.</span></li><br /><br /><li><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"><strong>Publish Frequently</strong>: Search engines are relentlessly looking for new content and indexing new content first. Every eNewsletter issue that you publish gives you another chance at producing better search results. </span></li></ul><p><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">eNewsletter are a great tool for building and maintaining relationships with customers, but they also should be part of a well-executed search engine optimization strategy.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Marcos J. Menendez</span></p><p><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">President</span></p><p><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Loop Consulting Group, LLC</span></p><p><a href="http://www.loopconsulting.com/"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">www.loopconsulting.com</span></a><br /></p>Loop Consulting Grouphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03513857488625232290noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12132948.post-87409087712801269632007-07-10T17:08:00.000-04:002007-07-10T17:21:26.787-04:00<span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;color:#ff9900;">How Online Video Boosts eNewsletter Performance</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"><strong>Summary:</strong> Learn about the value of adding online video to your communications and see how our client's eNewsletter results improved dramatically. </span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">I spoke about </span><a href="http://www.loopconsulting.com/emi/april2007/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">New Tools To Reach A New Level of eNewsletter Effectiveness</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">. I mentioned how online video could help take your eNewsletter program to new heights.I'm not one to recommend something that I have not seen firsthand. So we put online video to the test. </span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">We wanted to see if incorporating video to an eNewsletter would improve its performance.One of our clients, the </span><a href="http://www.latinbuilders.org/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Latin Builders Association</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"> (LBA), had the foresight to see the value of online video, and how it could help add richness and depth to their brand. Through online video, we helped the LBA produce and deliver to the LBA membership what their very successful monthly luncheons are like.We created a new media channel called LBATV, and through video, we were able to fully incorporate the monthly luncheons sponsor into the event video. </span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"><a href="http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3962578584641958704"><embed id="VideoPlayback" style="WIDTH: 400px; HEIGHT: 326px" src="http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docId=" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" hl="en" flashvars=""></embed></a> </span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"><strong>LBATV- May 2007 Luncheon Video at Intercontinental</strong>. </span><br /><a href="http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3962578584641958704" target="_blank"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"><em>Play</em></span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"><em> May Luncheon Video.<br /></em></span><a href="http://www.loopconsulting.com/projects/lba/june2007" target="_blank"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"><em>See</em></span></a><em><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"> Video within LBA's eNewsletter</span><br /></em><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"><br />Did you enjoy the video? See anyone you know? Okay, let's talk about the results. How did video improve the LBA's eNewsletter? What other impact did LBATV have?<br /><br /><strong>LBA eNewsletter Results</strong>:<br /><br /><strong>Open Rate</strong>: The total amount of recipients that opened the eNewsletter was 26%. This has been the long established amount of readers. We predict that as LBATV gains in popularity, so will the amount of readers.<br /><br /><strong>Click-Through</strong>: The total amount of recipients that viewed the video was a whopping 64%. This is the highest request for any link within an eNewsletter that we at Loop have ever seen. It moved the overall links requested from a 9% to a 41%, wow! This shows that video is a very attractive channel for recipients.<br /><br /><strong>New Channel</strong>: Through LBATV, the Latin Builders Association has created a new medium to communicate their message, as well as a new product for sponsorship revenue. Video augments the sponsor's message outside the venue walls.<br /><br /><strong>Experience</strong>: Video brings another good reason for the members to read the eNewsletter, and a way for prospective members to see what the LBA is like in action.<br />Online video has many other benefits such as improved search engine ranking, increase in website traffic, and a positive enhancement in how messages from an organization are perceived. You may want to consider adding video to your existing online marketing mix, but make sure that you plan carefully and consider using a professional company for production and editing.<br /><br />As always, we are here to help. If you are interested in starting or improving on your eNewsletter program </span><a href="mailto:mmenendez@loopconsulting.com"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">contact us</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">.</span><br /></span><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Marcos J. Menendez</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">President<br />Loop Consulting Group, LLC</span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"></span>Loop Consulting Grouphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03513857488625232290noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12132948.post-68765701002021221592007-05-01T14:58:00.000-04:002007-05-01T15:26:14.263-04:00<span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong><span style="color:#ff9900;">New Tools To Reach A New Level of eNewsletter Effectiveness<br /></span></strong><br />Last month I participated in the 2007 Email Marketing Summit provided by the good people at </span><a href="http://www.marketingsherpa.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Marketing Sherpa</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">. This conference is held once a year with the objective of rounding up experts and solution providers for the email marketing world.With that said, lets get down to what was interesting about the conference... the edge. Yes, the famous cutting edge of our industry and how the near future can benefit your email marketing efforts.So, here's a peek into what will be the upcoming trends in email marketing for sales and communications:</span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="color:#ff9900;">Eye Tracking</span> </span><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:verdana;"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 111px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 146px" height="146" alt="" src="http://www.loopconsulting.com/emi/images/eyetools_google_search_thumb.jpg" border="0" /></span><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /><br /><strong>Provider</strong>: Eye Tools (</span><a href="http://www.eyetools.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family:verdana;">http://www.eyetools.com/</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">)<br /><strong></strong></span><br /></span><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>What is it?</strong> A system to determine what parts of your email message visuals are attracting the eyes of the recipient.<br /></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><strong></strong></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><em>The color red signifies the highest level of viewing.</em> </span><br /></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span><br /><ul><li><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><strong>What's cool about it?</strong> The neat thing about this for us marketers is that it gives us an idea as to what part of our messages creative is drawing attention and what parts are being ignored.</span></li><li><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>What's not cool about it?</strong> Once the results are in, you may need to rethink the creative completely and retest. This may delay the campaign and it can get pricey. </span></li><li><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>How does it work?</strong> A demographically similar focus group is selected to view your message. Built-in monitor cameras that track eye ball movements and interpret that data into a heat map layout, which is superimposed unto your email message. </span></li><li><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>Will Loop use this?</strong> Depending on the campaign objectives, it can prove to be helpful.</span></li></ul><p><span style="font-family:verdana;color:#ff9900;">Guaranteed Deliverability</span> </p><p><span style="font-family:verdana;">Note: The issue with email delivery is getting more and more popular since emails are getting harder to deliver to the recipients' inbox. This is due to the myriad of SPAM filters settings and technologies.<br /><br /><strong>Provider</strong>: Goodmail Systems (</span><a href="http://www.goodmailsystems.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family:verdana;">http://www.goodmailsystems.com/</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">) </span></p><p><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.loopconsulting.com/emi/images/logo-certifiedmail.gif"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 73px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 50px" height="82" alt="" src="http://www.loopconsulting.com/emi/images/logo-certifiedmail.gif" border="0" /></a></span></p><p><span style="font-family:verdana;"></span></p><p><span style="font-family:verdana;"></span></p><p><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><em>Messages get the blue ribbonicon on the subject line.</em></span> </span></p><ul><li><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>What is it?</strong> A certification that tells ISPs that the incoming email is from a legitimate source. </span></li><li><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>What's cool about it?</strong> The thought that every single one of your emails will reach the recipients inbox perfectly.</span></li><li><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>What's not cool about it?</strong> There is a per message fee, sort of like a postage stamp per message.</span></li><li><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>How does it work?</strong> Each mail is stamped with a token that lets the ISP know that the email sender has been verified by Goodmail. </span></li><li><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>Will Loop use this?</strong> Unless the client asks for it specifically, probably not. Most ISPs are moving into a "reputation based" model for allowing email through. This means that legitimate, trusted and certified senders, like Loop, will get their emails to their recipient's inbox with no additional fees. </span></li></ul><p><span style="font-family:verdana;color:#ff9900;">Online Video </span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 155px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 124px" height="119" alt="" src="http://www.loopconsulting.com/emi/images/howtomakevideos.jpg" border="0" /><br /><strong>Provider</strong>: It depends on the level of quality you want. Videos can be made with a webcam, a video camera, video production company or through us at Loop.<br /></span></p><p></p><p><span style="font-family:verdana;"></span> </p><p><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://youtube.com/watch?v=3zFePU1uvtc"><em><span style="font-size:85%;">How To Make A Video</span></em> </a></span></p><p><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>What is it?</strong> It's the direction the web is taking in terms of how we can receive and view information. </span></p><ul><li><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>What's cool about it?</strong> It's a more enriching and sensory way to receive information and expand brand attributes. Also, ease of distribution... think </span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family:verdana;">YouTube</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;"> and </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RSS_(file_format)" target="_blank"><span style="font-family:verdana;">RSS</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">. </span></li><li><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>What's not cool about it?</strong> Higher production time and investment involved in creating a high quality message. The time it takes to present the information is longer. Reading is still faster than watching a video. </span></li><li><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>How does it work?</strong> Record video and audio with a digital camera and upload video file to </span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family:verdana;">YouTube</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">. </span></li><li><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>Will Loop use this?</strong> You betcha! We think it can provide our clients overall online marketing communications efforts with a new channel that can be profitable as well as enriching for the brand. See example of "</span><a href="http://youtube.com/watch?v=3zFePU1uvtc" target="_blank"><span style="font-family:verdana;">How to Make A Video</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">"... </span></li></ul><p><span style="font-family:verdana;">I have described the tools above so you can start thinking about how they may add value to your existing marketing communications efforts and determine if they can be a good fit for your objectives and your target audience. </span></p><p><span style="font-family:verdana;">As always, we are here to help. If you are interested in starting or improving on your eNewsletter program </span><a href="mailto:mmenendez@loopconsulting.com"><span style="font-family:verdana;">contact us</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:verdana;">Marcos J. Menendez</span></p><p><span style="font-family:verdana;">President</span></p><p><span style="font-family:verdana;">Loop Consulting Group, LLC</span></p><p><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"></span></p>Loop Consulting Grouphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03513857488625232290noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12132948.post-13995997972537144752007-03-30T10:23:00.000-04:002007-03-30T10:49:38.327-04:00<span style="font-family:verdana;color:#ff9966;"><strong>E-Newsletter + Blog - A Double Whammy</strong></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Here are two powerful tools that can be combined to work together and reinforce each other.</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">The e-newsletter, reaching out from a data base, finds and delivers the marketing message to chosen prospects. Publishing monthy, it talks about the major current matters, interfaces with your web site and links to resources. One of these links is to your blog.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;">The blog allows simple instant posting and this permits several postings a week, if desired. Then, those who read the blog postings can make comment that provides valuable feedback.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;">As the blog gains a following its link to the e-newsletter and web site generates action for those media.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Want to know more about this exciting concept. Just get in touch and we will give you more details.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Prescott "Pete" Lustig</span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Senior Marketing Strategist</span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><a href="http://www.loopconsulting.com">www.loopconsulting.com</a></span>Loop Consulting Grouphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03513857488625232290noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12132948.post-12225829635847465902007-02-19T13:01:00.000-05:002007-02-19T13:37:02.652-05:00<span style="font-family:verdana;color:#ff9900;"><strong>Sail to Success with the Cruise Ship Approach</strong></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br />Regardless of the type of marketing and advertising you do, whether it's fantastic, award winning, sales generating, or simple run-of-mill advertising, people will only buy when they are ready to. Not a second before, and not a second after.<br /><br />So, what can you do to help sell your products and services? The answer can be found in how cruise ships approach marketing.<br /><br />I just came back from week-long cruise vacation with the family and we had a great time. We ate until.... well let me just say this.... after the first day aboard I don't remember being hungry again!<br /><br />Back to the question at hand, if customers will only buy when they are good and ready, what can we, the people responsible for the sales and marketing in the company, do to stimulate our customers to buy? The answer is, do what cruises do, set the stage for purchase!<br /><br />My sources in the cruise ship business tell me that cruise companies do not make the larger part of their money from ticket sales. Ticket sales income only covers the operational expenses of having people onboard. The big money comes from what they call "onboard revenue". These are the dollars that come from what the passengers purchase onboard.<br /><br />Most passengers purchase alcoholic beverages, jewelry, clothing, tours, and excursions.<br /><br />How do the most successful cruise ships increase their onboard revenue? They make things easy, readily accessible, and enticing.<br /><br /><strong>The Cruise Approach</strong><br /><ul><li><strong>Easy</strong>: Cash is not used onboard. Instead, you use your room key as a credit card for everything you buy. The purchase transaction cannot get any easier. There is no change due, just a signature. And for those who do not want to wait in line to purchase the new Ralph Lauren cologne (me), you can buy it through your room TV, the same way you would order a movie in a hotel room. </li><li><strong>Readily Accessible</strong>: When I'm ready to purchase I want to be able to look up and find a store. Cruise operators know this well. They locate bars in every corner. If you cannot see a bar within your visual range, simply lifting your hand will call the attention of a waiter. This is what I call service! This is what the cruises call "readily accessible".</li><li><strong>Enticing</strong>: It's a mix of "easy" and "readily accessible" with a sprinkle of "tempting". The cruises are designed to make every place you may be enticing to stop and participate. This includes places to sit and have a drink, browsing a store, or dropping into an entertainment venue. Any place you are is a place to enjoy - and spend. </li></ul><p><br />Put all these features together, then add the vacation set of mind, and now you have one great environment for selling your products.</p><p><strong>How To Take The Cruise Approach</strong></p><p><br />What I want you to think about is how you can further increase sales of your product or service by taking the "cruise approach". Start by asking yourself, "Is our product is easy to buy?" If the answer is no, think about what you can do to make it simpler. How can you reduce the purchase steps? Then, ask yourself, "How can I make it more accessible? Should it be available for purchase online?"<br /></p><p>And finish by taking an objective look at your product or service to determine if it is enticing, alluring, or tempting enough to attract buyers. Think about how perfumes are advertised. They look so good it practically doesn't matter how they smell.</p><p><strong>How Can We Get You There?</strong></p><p><strong></strong><br />We keep thinking about how Loop's services can help our customers fit with the "cruise approach". We can develop the element of ease of purchase. We can also make purchase instantly accessible. And through graphics and text - and even videos -, we can make your products and services more enticing.<br /></p><p>As always, we are here to help. If you are interested in starting or improving on your eNewsletter program <a href="mailto:mmenendez@loopconsulting.com">contact us</a>. </p><p align="justify">Marcos J. Menendez </p><p align="justify">President</p><p align="justify"><a href="http://www.loopconsulting.com">www.loopconsulting.com</a> </span></p>Loop Consulting Grouphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03513857488625232290noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12132948.post-92062584532264170022007-02-12T10:55:00.000-05:002007-02-12T11:10:49.075-05:00<span style="font-family:verdana;color:#ff9966;"><strong>E-Newsletters vs. Web Sites</strong></span><br /><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;color:#ff9966;"></span></strong><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;color:#000000;">This heading makes it sound as if there is a an either/or choice between investing in web sites or in e-newsletters. That interpretation would not be correct. Both have an important place in the marketing communications media spectrum. </span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;">However, we frequently hear prospective clients say that they need to upgrade their web site before they get into e-newsletters. This type of priority setting ignores the fact that they are not going to significantly grow the audience they are reaching by fixing up their web site. People come to a web site by choice. so, how will they know the site has been upgraded if they have never opted to come in and look at it?</span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;">E-newsletters, by contrast, <em>reach out</em> to an audience that can be selected for demographics and size. E-newsletters open the door to people who may never have had experience with your product or services. So, when you lay your message in front of them, they are inclined to open it and see what it is all about.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Now, here is where e-newsletters can do more to improve traffic to your web site than tinkering with its graphics or contents. In your e-newsletters you post a prominent invitation - with link - to visit your site. Now you are doing something proactive to generate web site traffic.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;">We can tell you about how this has worked out for our clients. Get in touch and we will do so.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Prescott "Pete" Lustig</span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Senior Marketing Strategist</span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><a href="http://www.loopconsulting.com">www.loopconsulting.com</a></span>Loop Consulting Grouphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03513857488625232290noreply@blogger.com