Category Archives: Marketing

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Give Before You Take – A Brief Exploration of Value in Internet Marketing

Most anyone reading this is going to be familiar, at least in some abstract way, with the concept of “value.” The concept of value, or utility derived from content, products, or other offerings, is not unique to IM, however, and those working across a variety of markets, both online and offline, have to be keenly aware of the ways in which their value is perceived by customers. In this post, we’re going to go over the importance of balancing your ‘give’ with your ‘take’, and a few ways in which you can maintain that balance when working with IM clients.

 

The Why

Basic economics courses teach students that most people make their purchasing decisions based on a concept called ‘utility cost’; whenever someone is deciding whether or not to purchase an item or make a trade, they weigh whether the utility of what they will receive is greater than the utility of what they already have. Most commonly, this is the often quick and (nearly) subconscious assessment you would make as to whether an item is “too expensive” or seems like a “good deal.”

 

In online marketing, your customers make these decisions several times throughout your sales funnel:

– Is the freebie being offered worth more to me than the potential privacy giveaway and possible unwanted messages that entering my email could incur?

– Is the information this person posts on their site helpful enough to me that it’s worth taking ten minutes out of my day to read?

– Do I trust this person enough to take their recommendation that what they’re offering is worth my hard-earned money?

For many marketers, the second and third bullet points are where they lose people.

 

The Mindset Swap

Even though your end goal may be to make as much money as possible, your customer always wants to feel like they’ve “won.” In most IM-related instances, this means feeling like they’ve gotten the promise of greater future value from a product, tool, or training/coaching course than what they paid for it. However, there is another crucial evaluation that happens long before they’ll ever get close to purchasing, and that’s value-based-trust.

I recommend marketers practice a mindset swap, which involves taking the focus off of their bottom line and simply becoming a customer. Read every offer you’ve got, every promotional email, every review, and ask yourself, does this feel valuable? You are not smarter than your customers; if you know deep down that something you’re offering feels like a half-solution or copout, they’ll pick up on it too.

Most marketers, both experienced and novice, have a sales funnel riddled with these holes where offers feel like they’re doing more for the seller than the (potential) buyer. Remember, when perceived utility of an offer is viewed as a loss, people aren’t going to bite.

 

Actually Over-Deliver

Many of these low-value gaps occur because marketers are afraid of giving away ‘the whole solution’, system, or secret. Why then, you might ask, would someone make a purchase if they feel they’ve already been given the solution to their problems? It is a tricky balance, but too many err on the wrong side of the scale and come across as withholding value from their customers.

It shouldn’t be surprising that customers are often more likely to purchase after they have already had success with your methods and recommendations, and you offer them up a paid product that complements that success, rather than offering them a tiny piece of the puzzle with what they need to see any positive results locked behind a paywall. Which scenario do you think is more likely to foster an ongoing, positive relationship with a new customer? An opt-in freebie that gives visitors a complete system to make $1,000 per month, which you then upsell to a different version with larger earning potential later on, or just offering them the first page of the main system right off the bat, which essentially renders it useless to them and gives them nothing they can act on immediately?

The former has a high chance of resulting in a lifelong customer, the latter might just tick someone off and see them opting out of your email list as fast as possible.

The point? Give before you ever ask to take, work from the customer’s shoes, and always over-deliver.

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Is Email (Finally) Dead?!?

For years, people in the tech industry have been predicting (or lamenting) the death of email as a form of communication.

“Kids don’t use email anymore.” “There are better, faster and more effective ways to interact with other people, such as texting and social media.” “I know people who don’t even have an email address.”

These are some of the most common statements you hear regarding the death of email. (Perhaps it’s telling that I’ve been hearing these same statements for nearly a decade now.)

 

The Death of Email?

So what’s the real deal? Is email actually dead?

To answer this question, let me ask one of my own: When was the last time you checked your email account? This week? This morning? Just now?

The truth is that most people will go to their email every time their smart phone beeps, vibrates or otherwise indicates that a new email message has just landed in their inbox. It’s just a natural human response, kind of like when people used to answer their home telephones whenever it rang. It takes some time to de-program it.

 

More Popular than Ever

In reality, email is more popular than ever, especially among marketers. According to an April, 2015, study conducted by Yahoo! Labs and the University of Southern California – called “Evolution of Conversations in the Age of Email Overload”, most people are now receiving more emails in their inbox than ever before.

Part of that is businesses finally catching up with available marketing technology. While many small businesses have been collecting customers’ email addresses for years, it’s only been recently that many have finally figured out what to do with them.

People are more willing to give up their email address than they are, say, their mobile phone numbers. That’s because they know they can easily ignore or delete emails they don’t really want to see.

 

Too Many Emails

Today, most people receive more emails than they can conceivably read and respond to. Personally, I usually begin each working day by deleting about 80% to 90% of the emails in my inbox – mostly from marketers or others promoting something I’m not interested in.

Yet like me, most people won’t go to the trouble of unsubscribing from the source of all those emails out of fear that they might miss out on the one offer or email that they genuinely are interested in.

 

Ease of Email

It’s also easier than ever for people to keep up with their emails. Spam detectors have done an effective job of filtering out the truly irrelevant and unwanted emails. And now people can read their emails – or at least their subjects and who they are from – as a scroll on their smart phones, tablets and other mobile devices.

And because more emails today are being sent and received on mobile devices, they tend to be shorter. Perhaps this is why the average amount of time it takes for people to respond to emails sent from smart phones (28 minutes) is so much shorter than those sent from tablets (57 minutes) or from desktop computers or laptops (62 minutes,), according to the Yahoo!/USC study. Could that mean that emails and text messages are beginning to morph into the same thing?

 

The Myth of Young People and Email

As expected, older people tend to use emails more than younger people. But the difference may not be as big as many people might think.

During the course of the study, 53% of adults between 35 and 50 years old sent emails from their phones or tablets at least once, compared to only 49% of teenagers between13 and 19 and 48% of young adults between 20 and 35 years old. Older people (51+) sent the fewest emails via mobile devices, at 43%, according to the study.

So email is definitely not dead. It’s not even wounded. Eventually, however, it may eventually morph into something entirely different, in the way the telephone did.

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4 Disruptive Trends to Watch Out for in the second half of 2015

There are certain events that happen in marketing that change the face of the way business is conducted forever.

For example, in 2004 who could have guessed that a software program invented by a geeky undergraduate in a Harvard University dorm room designed to make it easier to meet girls would have such a profound effect on the way people communicate with each other in the 21st Century? Yet Facebook has done exactly that.

Or flash back to 2007, when Apple co-founder Steve Jobs introduced a new gadget that he promised would alter the way people not only used the telephone, but accessed the Internet, shopped for the products and services they wanted, and were entertained. He was right: Today the iPhone and its imitators are used all day every day by billions of people worldwide.

 

Identifying Disruptors

Facebook, the iPhone and other game-changing developments are what are known as disruptors. They change the rules, alter behavior, and shake the very foundations of the marketplace. Once these genies are let out of their respective bottles, it’s practically impossible to imagine a world without them.

Knowing how to spot disruptors before they come onto the scene is a skill that needs to be developed. Some of these advancements occur organically and unexpectedly, as was the case of Facebook. I doubt that even Mark Zuckerberg knew what he had when he developed the social media platform’s prototype between classes at Harvard.

Others are developed in secret, under tight security. That’s how the iPhone was able to take the world – and especially techies – by surprise (and capture such an enormous market share of the mobile industry). Nobody saw it coming.

 

4 Potential Disruptors

While nobody knows for sure which new technology or software is going to turn the world upside down, it’s possible to take an educated guess. Here are four potential disruptors to watch in the coming year and beyond:

Wearable Technology – People laughed when Google Glass was first introduced in 2012 as a prototype. But in the ensuing years, wearable technology has become cutting edge. Apple has responded with its iWatch, and is rumored to be developing even further tech devices that can be worn while used. And businesses and industries are now adjusting to their workers wearing their web access devices while on the job in the same way they were forced to deal with employees bringing their cell phones to work in the late 1990s.

Driverless Vehicles – The technology for driverless cars and other vehicles has existed for many years. Using GPS, radar, laser-guided cameras and other devices, cars, trucks, taxis and even forklifts can now move more safely and efficiently that those driven by humans. But the automobile industry and others are justifiably concerned about consumer pushback to such technologies. That’s why they are slowly introducing the concept to the public through such things as cars that can parallel park themselves, cars with 360-degree cameras, auto-braking and collision deterrent devices.

Digital Money – Right now, there is a battle going on for control of your virtual wallet. Some companies like PayPal and Google Wallet are winning while others, like BitCoin, are failing. But eventually, safe, hassle-free digital commerce will replace the inconvenience of carrying cash and payments from your smart phone or other device will be universally accepted.

Streaming Media Content – Consumers have spoken. They prefer the convenience of watching the movies and programming they prefer via streaming services such as Netflix, Hulu and Amazon to being tied to network or cable TV schedules. The industry observers who have been predicting the fall of the networks for years are now adding cable and satellite providers to the list of potential victims.

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Amazon’s Unmanned Delivery Drones One Step Closer to Lift-Off

Many people in the tech industry can remember exactly where and when they were when they first heard about Amazon’s plans to use unmanned flying drones to deliver products to their customers in as little as 30 minutes from when they were ordered online.

When Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos first unveiled the plan to Charlie Rose on “60 Minutes” in December, 2013, it had the same impact for many as watching the first moon landing, the Challenger explosion, or 9/11. We all knew instantly that everything had changed forever.

 

Future Shock

So far, the 21st Century has been lived up to expectations as far as futuristic developments. Unrestricted mobile access to the Internet has connected us all. Driverless cars are only a few more years away. And big data analysis has allowed governments to spy not only on their enemies, but on all of their own citizens simultaneously.

So perhaps we shouldn’t have been so surprised by Bezos announcement that the world’s largest online retailer (and world’s largest store, for that matter) was developing tiny unmanned helicopters that could transport the books, small appliances and other products we purchased online directly to our doorstep in literally minutes after we clicked the “Buy Now” button.

After the initial “gee whiz” shock of the announcement wore off, next came the naysayers: “The FAA will never let them do it.” “There are too many power lines, phone wires and other detritus for drones to actually work.” “Aren’t those the same type of drones we use to drop bombs on the heads of our enemies?”

 

It’s Finally Happening

The pushback from the Amazon announcement had all but erased the idea from most people’s minds. Until now, that is. Now, it look as if it’s actually happening.

Earlier this month, the FAA granted Amazon a special exemption that allowed the retailer to begin real-time testing of its Prime Air drone fleet of unmanned helicopters.

Despite objections from airlines and agricultural pilots, the FAA gave Amazon Prime Air the green light, stating that the drones posed less safety risk than larger drones used for defense and aerospace purposes. Some observers said that suggests the FAA would be okay with Amazon’s unmanned drone delivery plans, as long as it was limited for the time being in location, site access, two-way communication capabilities, and pilot experience.

 

Pilot Program to Start Right Away

The FAA’s exemption allows Amazon to roll out a pilot program using drones that weigh less than 55 pounds – including the payload – and that travel below speeds of 100 miles per hour. The drones can only be operated at altitudes lower than 400 feet and, for the time being at least, must be within the unaided sight of human controllers at all times.

Although opponents asked that Amazon be limited to using controllers who hold commercial airline pilot license, or at least private pilot licenses, the FAA agreed to allow the online retailer to use controllers who had only recreational or sport pilot certificate, which requires far less training and certification. Controllers also will need to have a valid driver’s license.

The ultimate goal of Amazon is to dispatch squadrons of drones from regional distribution centers located all over the US. Consumers would be able to receive delivery of their orders in 30 minutes or less.

If the program is successful, it could change the face of package delivery permanently. Other retailers would almost certainly follow suit. And soon the low-altitude airways could be filled with unmanned drones flying back and forth overhead like something out of a science fiction movie.

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What the Girl Scouts Can Teach Us about Internet Marketing

Did you buy Girl Scout cookies this year? If so, you aren’t alone. An estimated 200 million boxes of the delicious sweet treats are sold every year.

The Girl Scouts have been selling cookies as a fundraising tool for more than 100 years. But it was only recently that they extended their marketing efforts online. Now, in addition selling cookies door to door, Girl Scouts can now use the Internet to send customers emails inviting them to place their cookie order.

There’s also a mobile app Girl Scouts can use to handle credit card transactions during face-to-face purchases. The group has come a long way since the days of knocking on every door in the neighborhood.

 

Girl Scout Lessons

If there’s one thing you can’t say about the Girl Scouts it’s that they aren’t good at what they do. The market penetration of their cookie product is the envy of the industry. Honestly, is there anybody who has ever said “no” to a Girl Scout selling cookies?

Here, then, are some lessons we Internet marketers can learn from the Girl Scouts:

– Most People Respond to Human Interaction – In an age where most people are buying products and services from their smart phones, a face to face interaction with a real person has more meaning than ever, especially when that person is an adorable 8-year-old.

Making that type of personalized connection with your customers is what’s ultimately going to make the sale for Internet marketers and Girl Scouts alike.

 

– Know Your Audience – Let’s face it, the vast majority of Girl Scout cookie sales are made to relatives, friends, co-workers and other acquaintances of the parents of Girl Scouts or the girls themselves. Part of the reason for their success is that there already is a built-in customer base that they can reliably return to year after year.

Your Internet marketing can benefit from the same model. Your best customers are going to be the ones who buy whatever you are selling over and over again. Building lasting loyalty bonds for a series of smaller sales is generally better than making a single larger one.

– Friendships Matter – Girl Scouts know that friends are the most important thing in life. Social media marketers and other web-based entrepreneurs are learning the same life lessons.

Creating lasting relationships with your customers can guarantee that they are going to be open to our next offer … and the one after that. But they aren’t going to see you as a friend if you are always trying to sell them something. Alternate your promotional messages with ones that share something personal about yourself. Include free helpful, high value content that your contacts can use in their everyday lives and you can strengthen the genuine bonds you create with your customer base.

– Learning Is Better than Teaching – Girl Scouts is centered on continually learning new things: Crafts, activities, how to do different things. Sharing information and teaching others is fine, but learning something new is even better.

Your communications with your customers shouldn’t be a monologue. It should be a dialogue, with them telling you as much about your business as you are telling them. Make a point of letting your customers know that you value their opinion and are genuinely interested in what they have to say.

Marketers who are always preaching at people, rather than listening to them, usually aren’t as successful as those who value learning as much as they do teaching.

Now, if you will excuse me, I have a couple of boxes of Girl Scout cookies to eat.

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Introducing Weibo, the ‘Twitter’ of China

Despite having the world’s largest population and the second-largest economy, social media in China hasn’t taken off as quickly as it has in other developed countries.

Part of that has to do with the Chinese government. Although it may not be as strict as it once was in terms of censoring the content it allows its citizens to view online, it still is far more restrictive than most European countries or the US. The Chinese government continues to be serious about cracking down on dissent and keeping tabs on those it considers to be enemies of the state.

Still, the Chinese are beginning to go just as crazy about social media as people everywhere else in the world. And the biggest name in Chinese social media today isn’t Facebook, Twitter or Google+. It’s a site called Weibo.

 

Popularity of Social Media in China

Weibo has exploded in popularity in recent years. It currently has 176 million active daily users and 503 million registered users. While that’s still only about half of China’s estimated 1 billion citizens, that represents a 36% growth over last year.

The site is used regularly by about 30% of Chinese Internet users. That’s about the same market penetration that Twitter has in the US, which has prompted Weibo to get the nickname “The Twitter of China”.

The site is only a couple of years old, having been founded in 2009 by SINA Corporation, which still owns 56.9% of the Weibo. Alibaba owns another 32% if the company. Stock in the website has been publicly traded on Nasdaq since last April.

 

Enter Oracle

Just recently, Oracle announced that its Social Cloud will provide the publishing, engagement and analytical support for the site. The purpose of the move is to boost Weibo’s usage outside of China, as well as to grow the site within that nation.

Oracle also will provide engagement and analytic services for Instagram within China. Instagram, which is owned by Facebook and recently offered the ability to post 15-second videos as well as images and photos, is rapidly becoming one of the most popular sites among 18 top 24 year olds in that country.

 

Who’s Using the Site

Like Twitter in the US, Weibo allows its users to follow posts from their favorite celebrities, sports stars, political leaders, media figures, businessmen and religious leaders. Users also can share their own microblog posts with their own followers. It’s estimated that the Weibo’s top 100 users have an estimated 485 followers combined.

But companies and commercial interests both inside and outside of China are huge users of the site as well. More than 5,000 companies and 2,700 media companies are believed to use the site regularly.

 

Censorship on Weibo

One of the biggest differences between Weibo and western social media sites is that Sina cooperates with Chinese Internet censors, setting strict controls on the contents of its postings. Comments about politically sensitive topics, as well as those containing blacklisted keywords, are regularly deleted.

But when compared to other Chinese media, Weibo is relatively permissive. Criticism of the Chinese government, while not encouraged, isn’t as controlled on Weibo as it is on Chinese TV, newspapers or radio.

 

Where Its Name Comes From

In Chinese, the word for microblog is “Weibo”. Sina Weibo launched it as the service’s domain name in 2011. While other Chinese microblogging services such as Tenchent Weibo, Sohu Weibo, and NetEase Weibo also include the term, most people in China recognized Weibo as the leading social media platform in the same way that the term “Facebook” is synonymous with social media in the US.

When it comes to social media, 500 million Chinese social media users can’t be wrong about Weibo.

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How Important Are Reviews to Conversion?

It’s no secret that most people today use their mobile devices to search for the products and services they want. Recommendations from their social media contacts are important, but even more influential are the reviews that accompany product descriptions on Amazon, Yelp!, eBay and other popular sites.

How important are reviews in the online decision making process? One recent poll found that a whopping 85% of people said they were influenced one way or another by an online review before making a purchase.

 

What Customers Are Seeing

The poll, which was conducted by the website Influence Central, also
found that 85% of women said that online reviews were “extremely important” or “very important” when it came time to make a buy or no-buy decision. In contrast, only 1% of people said online reviews were not important at all.

The poll also found that 90% of people believe online reviews are more important than information about the product coming from the seller.

Another 87% said they use reviews regularly when search for both online and brick and mortar businesses. Other findings of the poll included:

– 88% of people said they considered polls very important when buying products from a company they have never done business with before, and 67% said reviews were important when buying a brand they’ve bought before

– 97% of respondents said they can accurately spot a fake review, and 90% said they can tell most or all of the time if the reviewer is exaggerating, with another 86% saying they can detect bias in an online review.

– 89% of people said they don’t trust online reviews that are anonymous, but 77% said they have more trust in a review that includes the author’s name and photo.

 

What This Means for You

What this means is that if you aren’t paying attention to what online reviewers are saying about your products and services, you could be losing sales – especially if you are doing nothing to manage your reviews.

The poll’s statistics indicate that it’s usually not a good idea to try to pad your products with fake reviews you wrote yourself or to pay people to write positive reviews about your products or company. Organic reviews that express genuine opinions will carry the most meaning for your customers. So your goal should be to collect as many organic positive reviews from real life customers as possible.

 

How to Get Positive Reviews

The easiest way to get positive reviews from your satisfied customers is to ask for them. To encourage people to share their good opinions about your products or company, it’s a good idea to include an invitation with every interaction, both online and in person, such as, “If you enjoyed your experience, please share it with your friends and family on social media.”

You also can include plugins on your web pages that make it easy for page visitors to give you positive social media signals such as Facebook “Likes” and Google+ pluses. Or you can include a little box for people to write testimonials or their opinions about your company, the products you sell, or the brands you offer.

This actually is one of the best ways to manage reviews because you get to choose which ones you want to share. There’s nothing that says you are required to publish negative reviews, but they do offer you an opportunity to go back to that customer and try to win them back.

Today more than ever, people are paying attention to what other people are saying about your business online. If you aren’t, you may be missing out on one of your best marketing opportunities.

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‘Pin’ a Tweet to the Top of Your Twitter Profile to Attract More Traffic

Do you have a Tweet pinned to the top of your profile on Twitter? Wait, wrong social media network, right?

Not really. Twitter will actually let you “pin” a Tweet to the top of our Twitter stream so that people visiting your page will always see that particular Tweet first, as opposed to the default setup in which your most recent posting appears on top.

What are the benefits of this? Well, first you have more control over what visitors see when they land on our Twitter feed (uh, duh!). But that means that you can create whatever kind of image you want to project, something that can be extremely helpful if you use your Twitter feed primarily to support your other Internet marketing platforms or offers.

There’s also a social benefit. For example, if you want to attract members of the opposite sex or people with similar interests to yours, you can “pin” the most appropriate Tweet so that it’s always present at the top of your page – such as the photo where you appear most buff, or something related to your hobby or interests.

If you use Twitter a lot, not everything you post is going to be something you want to represent who you are to other Twitter users. For example, you may Share something you found funny but that other people might find offensive. Or you could Tweet something off the cuff that could be taken out of context later.

This is something that happens to sports starts and celebrities all the time. Who’s to say you are immune to it, especially if you are prone to “Tweeting under the influence”.

Setting It Up

Setting up the Tweet you want to pin to the top of your Twitter feed is super easy. All you go to the Tweet you want pinned, then click on the “…” icon at the bottom right hand corner. (You probably never noticed this before, did you?) Then all you have to do is simply click on the “Pin to your profile page” option and there you go.

Make sure you pick a Tweet that truly represents the image you want to project. In other words, don’t just arbitrarily pick some Tweet you think is pretty funny or an okay picture of you. Remember, you only get one chance to make a good impression. Twitter is worldwide and your profile could potentially be visited by thousands of different people, so you want to make sure you get it right the first time.

And if you don’t, well, you can always change it later anytime you want!

The Downside

The biggest drawback to this is the pinned Tweets on your profile can’t be seen by people who access the social media site from their smart phones. And, let’s face it, Twitter and mobile phones were made for each other. When was the last time you accessed Twitter from your PC or laptop? It was probably at least a couple of years ago.

So will posting your best Tweet to the top of your Twitter profile actually make a difference? Let’s put it this way: It couldn’t hurt. You can’t control how people what kind of devices people use to access your Twitter profile. If someone does happen to stumble upon (oops! Wrong site again) your Twitter feed from their laptop or PC and they do happen to like your great Tweet enough to re-Tweet it, well, then that’s bonus!

The bottom line is that if you want to increase your popularity on Twitter and do a better job of managing your reputation, why not pin the best Tweet possible to the top of your profile?

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Is Apple Considering Dropping Google as their Default Search Engine?

It’s no secret that the folks over at Apple have always been a little jealous of Google’s dominance as the Internet’s top search engine. But the iCompany has been bogged down with too many product launches and keeping the company strong in the wake of Steve Jobs’ death to do anything about it.

Until now…

Word on the street is that Apple’s search deal with Google is going to expire soon and when it does, the search engine default on the Safari browser that comes with every Apple computer, iPhone, iPad (and now iWatch) is going to be up for grabs. And you just know that Bing or Yahoo (or every other search engine for that matter) would love to have that particular piece of business.

There’s even speculation that Apple may have its own search engine in development. After all, the company has a long history of vertical integration.

Dumping Google Could Have Big Consequences

RKG’s Mark Ballard has stated that “roughly half of total paid search traffic (is) at stake in 2015 if the Safari search default is really up for grabs across devices.” That could have huge consequences that would be felt throughout many industries.

It also could lead to a big drop in Google’s value. Imagine what would happen to Google if Apple were to drop its search engine from its devices. For one thing, Google would experience an immediate (and permanent?) drop in the amount of mobile traffic, market share and paid clicks it currently has. According to StatCounter, Safari’s presence on Apple-based desktops and mobile devices accounts for slightly less than 26% of all US Internet traffic. That’s more than IE. Only Chrome has a larger share.

Another Player Waiting in the Wings?

Meanwhile, Yahoo’s Marissa Mayer has publicly stated that she would like her company to be the default search engine for Apple.

And Bing already does the searches for Siri on mobile devices and for Apple PC’s Spotlight searches. That could mean that if Apple is planning on dropping Google, because it already has a working relationship with Bing, it may put their search engine at the top of their list of candidates.

iSearch?

There’s also a lot of speculation about a recent job posting from Apple for an “engineer projection manager” for its “Apple Search” department. That’s a pretty strong indicator that Apple is at least considering getting into the search engine business.

Here’s what the job posting says:

“Apple seeks a technical, driven and creative program manager to manage backend operations projects for a search platform supporting hundreds of millions of users. Play a part in revolutionizing how people use their computers and mobile devices. Manage operations projects that support groundbreaking technology and the most scalable big-data systems in existence.”

Now, that may sound as if Apple is announcing the launch of its own search engine, but it also could just be a bluff to improve its negotiating position with Google, Bing, Yahoo or another player.

Does Apple Still Have the Guts to Pull Off Such a Huge Move?

There’s no question that Apple under Tim Cook is a much different company than Apple under Steve Jobs (both times). The days of launching industry-changing products is in the past for Apple. So the best bet right now would be that Apple will keep its relationship with Google.

But there’s always the chance that Google may want to pull out of its deal with Apple. After all, the search monsters pays Apple a reported billion dollars per year in revenue sharing for its deal with the mobile Safari.

Stay tuned to for the next episode in this high stakes corporate Internet soap opera.

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Ways to Create Fresh Content to Keep Visitors Coming Back for More

Creating new content is critical to the success of your web pages, but let’s face it: It’s also a pain in the butt.

It often seems like you’ve already said everything you want to say about your blog or website’s subject matter. Yet if you don’t provide a constant stream of fresh, engaging content, you risk alienating your regular visitors and you could stop attracting new fans.

‘Refresh’ Your Pages with Engaging Content

Here’s some easy ways to keep your blog or website engaging and interesting to new fans and loyal return visitors:

– Engaging Content Is Critical – This is something you hear a lot, but what does it really mean? Engaging content can mean any number of things, such as a lively debate about a controversial subject relating to your niche to reviews of the latest news. It could mean stories from your own real life or somebody else’s that are relevant to your subject matter.

Developing engaging content is something that should come organically to you. If you are the author of a popular blog or website, you probably already are constantly on the lookout for articles, images and other content you think your readers might find interesting. But you don’t always have to give your readers long blocks of text. In fact, it’s probably better if you don’t.

Infographics are one of the hottest types of engaging content being used online right now. These are images that present information both textually and with engaging graphics. The purpose of infographics is to make your content easier to be absorbed by your visitors.

Videos are another great type of engaging content, especially if you don’t usually post videos of yourself. If your readers have following your blog for a long time and then suddenly, BOOM!, there’s a video of you in your own home or office, it can be like: Mind. Blown.

– Put Your Visitors First – The most successful sites make their readers the blog or website owners’ top priority. This pays off because when visitors feel valued, they are much more likely to come back another time.

Did you ever read a blog or website and think, “Boy, this person is such a know-it-all?” How did that make you feel? Now compare that to a blog or website where the author is actively responding to visitors’ questions, sharing stories about interactions with fans, and inviting visitors to share their stories or tips as they are relevant to the blog’s subject matter. Big difference. Much more inviting.

– Mix It Up A Little –If you’ve been using the same theme since the first day of your blog or website, or always use the default layout, it may be comfortable for you but it can be a real turnoff for your visitors. People like it when you shake things up every once in a while.

Think about the way Google will change their home search page for special holidays or just for fun. You can do the same thing with your blog or website to make it more engaging for your visitors. At the very least, change your theme to reflect the season, such as having a snowy background in winter, a sunny one in summer, and so on.

Okay, these techniques of enhancing the users’ experience when they arrive on your pages may take a little time or effort on your part. But they will pay off royally when you build your subscriber list and start attracting hundreds of new visitors every day. See for yourself!