Challenge

When we met with Jorge we talked about his business, strategies, and goals. We took a look at the way he was showing customers’ homes for sale and rent in Tampa/Manhattan via his web site. He was reliant on himself to update his web site. If you didn’t know HTML you couldn’t update the site. We recommended that he go with our content management system so that anyone in his organization could update his web site.

The solution

We designed the myfinancialconnections.com web site using our content management system. Since he needed to constantly add new properties to his site, the content management system worked perfectly for him. It’s easy for his employees to create a new listing and have it automatically show up in certain parts of the site. No web design experience needed. The quality design builds credibility which breeds requests for information. His web site was designed to help stream line the web site update process, increase leads, and requests for information.

Challenge

Chris Lietz (owner of Data-Tech and Graphics Tech) came over to meet with us to discuss the launch of his Versa Appliance line of IT Systems. We decided that an Ecommerce site would be a substantial way to increase visibility and would also help automate the sales process. The site needed to manage the entire sales process, document uploads, product management, inventory, and sales reports.

The solution

We developed a system that would run as a bolt on to our content management system. The versaappliance.com web site has a unique design and layout that gives any employee at Data-Tech the ability to update and add new products.

Demo the site >>

We’ll be there to present our quality web site design, internet advertising, and social media marketing services. We focus on helping organizations define and achieve sales goals using our formulated Internet Marketing strategies. Visit our booth! Find out how we can extend your reach with advertising channels and effectively convert the traffic we generate.

Our brother company Data-Tech will also be there to present their cloud computing/virtual office solution and their Versa Appliance product line.  Graphics Tech is currently working on the Data-Tech virtual office campaign. I found after a few comparisons and calculations that they can reduce your network infrastructure (business network) cost of ownership up to 75%. If you’ve ever invested in a business network you know the extraordinary start up and maintenance costs to owning your business network. Their cloud is the future of business computing, if you’re new to the cloud we definitely recommend you stop by their booth and check out their Versa Server and Network systems.

Thanks for stopping by the blog, come check out Graphics Tech and Data-Tech at this years coolTech event hosted by MOSI. I’ve included a map to Mosi, just in case you haven’t had the chance to visit the museum of Science.

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I added a video below, “Did you know 3.0”, make sure you watch it… It’s pretty darn amazing when you think about it. Comments are appreciated!

Internet Marketing is new, its revolutionary, and it’s changing the way businesses are marketing on the Internet. Technologies such as Web 2.0, Search marketing/optimization, social media and email marketing take a less abrasive approach. People that are exposed to these various forms of Inbound Marketing are more likely to listen. There is a difference between Internet Marketing and today’s fading traditional marketing. Traditional marketing focuses a lot on ineffective out bound one-way messages. Internet marketing uses online games, thought leadership through blogging, Search Engine optimization, and pay per click advertising as inbound distribution channels connecting the world with your web site.

That’s why it matters to have a great web site. For businesses a great web site can make every bit of difference. Like the way it can engage and socialize with a customer. Or how it is structurally designed to provide strategically placed content.

Businesses must be connected with social media and the Internet because it’s growing substantially and you’re missing out. Blogs, social networking, social bookmarking, and video portals are changing the way consumers consume media. I mean, IPTV is right around the corner and I feel from all the hype that every person I talk to is ready to get their own IPTV system. No commercials and the freedom to subscribe to your own channel via the Internet. Now that’s what I’m talking about. Yeah, I like my TiVO but I just don’t get the feeling I’ll need it much longer. New media advertising like social media has already come on strong and with the new age of IPTV, businesses should start taking advantage of this free medium if they haven’t already..

Here’s some stats for you. In 2008 there were 31 Billion searches on Google every month, in 2006 there were only 2.7 Billon searches a month.. These numbers are exponential and have grown considerably since then. Check this video out, it’s a real eye opener as to what technology has done in such little time.

Did you know 3.0

What is Search Engine Optimization?

SEO or Search Engine Optimization is the process of increasing traffic to a web site from search engines such as Google, Yahoo, and Bing for FREE! Optimizing a web site will increase its ability to show up at the top of the search engine rankings page.

Why is it important?

Search Engine Optimization is important because there is an increasing amount of searches conducted daily.  According to searchenginewatch.com there were an estimated 91 million searches conducted in march of 2006. That number in June of 2009 increased to an estimated 304 million searches conducted daily. These are staggering numbers that are going to continually increase. Think of a service you offer, type the name of the service into Google with the city you work in and see what comes up. There’s a good chance your competition is reaping the rewards of a number 1, 2, and 3 spot.

How does it work?

Search engines have to determine whether a web page is relevant to the keywords searched by a user. So when a search is conducted the Search Engine goes to its database (index) and looks for the best result based on the keyword searched by the user. It’s the job of the search engine to provide quality search results on the first try (this is why Google dominates the search market). Google has an algorithm that is a mathematical formula used in ranking a web page for keyword relevancy. Though keyword relevancy is important for a search engine what web page will show up number 1. It’s not the only thing it takes into consideration when ranking. Inbound links to a web site or web page are important elements in which a search engine looks at when ranking a website. Search engines need to understand the credibility of a website which they do from links. Search engines count every link that points to your website as a vote. This will determine if you place number 1, 2, or 3.

I hope this gives you some insight as to what SEO is and how it works. Your feedback is greatly appreciated. If you have any questions feel free to ask by posting a comment.

What is Social Media?

Social Media uses the Internet and web sites to connect millions of people across the world and allow them to communicate, participate, and socialize on the Internet. Social media has been made possible by new web 2.0 technologies that enable the creation and exchange of user-generated content.

Different Types of Social Media

Blogging
Blogs are web sites maintained by an individual or organization that are frequently updated. Internet users or blog followers are able to comment on the blog and share their thoughts.

Social Networks
Social Networks are websites designed to focus on social interaction between users.

Social Bookmarking
Social Bookmarking is a way for Internet users to share, organize, search, rate, and manage their bookmarks.

Video Sharing
Video sharing allows indviduals to upload video clips to an Internet website such as YouTube.

Social Photo sharing
Similar to video sharing, photo sharing allows users to share photos over the Internet.

Wiki’s
A wiki is a web site that allows easy creation and editing of any number of interlinked web pages, they’re great for collaboration.

Presentation Sharing
Presentation sharing gives people the ability to, of course, share presentations over the Internet.

How to market with Social Media

Social Media marketing over the Internet for business must be approached differently than a traditional marketing campaign. In a world that is becoming more immune to advertising and one-way messages, its essential that you understand how to use these new tools that will promote your brand effectively. We have to forget about directly marketing to our customers when using social networks like Facebook. In today’s market the power is in the consumer’s hand. It’s your job or the job of your marketing company to think of a creative way to build a community and provide them with valuable information or content that customers are interested in. By engaging customers on social networks you have the ability to farm their thoughts on or about your products or services because social media is also a huge market research tool. Companies can take the feedback they receive whether it’s positive or negative and improve their quality of service.

Its important to understand what social media is and how it is revolutionizing the way we market to our customers now and in the future. Building on the Internet and watching it evolve over the last 10 years has been really amazing.  If I could recommend one thing about social media to businesses, it would be to start building your communities and making your digital footprint. This is one game you done want to start late.

Pay Per Click advertising is used to drive relevant, targeted traffic to a web site when someone performs a search for a keyword phrase you have targeted.

How does it work?

The big three search engines including Google, Yahoo, and Bing all have a pay per engine that advertisers can use to send specifically researched and targeted traffic to a web site or landing page. Once your account is setup and research is conducted your customers will perform a search and your ad will placed at the very top of the search engine results page or down the right hand column.

Why you should use it?

Unlike SEO/Search Engine Optimization, Pay per click advertising is the quickest effective way to drive quality traffic to your Web site. There are billions of searches conducted daily and many of them are for your product and or service. A lot of people don’t understand the effectiveness of pay per click advertising and right of bat don’t think that it will be effective. I break it down like this. You can spend massive amounts of money on TV, Print, magazines, cold calling, and maybe get 2 or 3 leads. Why is this ineffective? Because you’re calling on people that probably are not interested in your product or service. With pay per click advertising you are able to weed out the people that have no interest in your product or service. When people are conducting searches for a product or service they have already come to the conclusion that they need that product or service and now they just want to find the best company to provide it to them. With pay per click advertising you can directly target those individuals with keyword research. As long as the user you have targeted finds the information they’re looking for on your landing page, consider them a new customer.

When setting up a PPC campaign its important to understand the funnel process the user takes.

1.    I need X service.

2.    Search X service in location.

3.    Sees ad on X service, clicks on the ad

4.    Lands on the web page of choice

5.    Looks for the information needed to convert (service info, hours, location, contact info)

We advise that you always consult a professional that has experience setting up pay per click ads (a company like Graphics Tech). If you don’t target your customers properly you will probably spend a lot of money on ad dollars that don’t yield results.

Email marketing is an important media channel all companies should use as part of their marketing mix. A lot of people think of email marketing died long ago when it was coined as SPAM. According to the Direct Marketing Association, email marketing on average generated $43.62 for every dollar spent on it during 2009.

How should it be used?

Email marketing works well when used properly.

1. Organize your list so you can target different customer segments.

2. Target each customer segment individually, have purpose for the email, don’t SPAM maliciously.

3. Use it to build loyalty and trust

4. Use it to support sales through other channels

5. Track each campaign for effectiveness.

Email promotions and offers generate immediate action including sales, downloads, inquires, registrations, etc. Informative email newsletters and other emails send people to offline stores and events, build awareness, contribute to branding, strengthen relationships, encourage trust and loyalty.

Graphics Tech offers two services for customers looking to use email-marketing services. One gives you the ability to manage and deploy your own email marketing initiatives. Or you can outsource your email marketing efforts to us.