Joel Goldstein

2012: Recent changes in Google’s Privacy Policy throws up a few red flags in my book…

by JoelGoldstein on January 26, 2012

2012 Google Privacy Policy

Google recently shifted it’s privacy policy away from 70 different privacy settings into one document. What you need to know about how google uses your information is generally stated in this document, however the idea that one document lending itself to transparency is one I don’t see. Grouping the multitude of services that google offers and the ability for the online search giant to track and analyze data useful for advertising is easy.

Google makes their billions of dollars off advertising revenue, this is custom tailored to your life by tracking your search history and inferring what you want to hire, buy, learn about. As of now every one of Google’s tools were not in communication with each other, however with an overall shared privacy document this may not always be the case.

Speaking from a marketing standpoint, the ability to understand the search and purchasing habits of your demographic will allow more targeted advertising and marketing in specific areas driving up the cost of advertising along with the frequency of someone selecting an advertisement for “information”

We’ve seen a shift just recently in how google uses it’s search with it’s “search plus your world” feature that customizes your search results using your history and hundreds of other factors. The idea that Google will forgo a potential billion dollar spike in revenue by keeping the advertising and search sides of it’s business separate while being housed in the same compound is a leap I’m not willing to make.

If you are currently using AdWords this will be the most important shift in your online advertising program, use your money wisely and explore local search and Search Engine Optimization before you’re drowning along with the competitions ads on the sidebar of Google.

Details about Google’s Privacy Policy Change

A Dumbed Down version of Google’s Privacy Policy Change

FAQ about Google’s Privacy Policy Change

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Make Your Business Famous using Social Media, Blogs and Articles

by JoelGoldstein on November 17, 2011

From the beginning of Social Media and Blogging marketers have been trying to find the magic key to unlock it’s revenue producing business model. The research has been done and many have tried and failed, the truth is that there is no “one size fits all” solution that will work for every business. However, this does not mean that a blog mixed with Social Media can not propel your business. As the Internet evolves and becomes more social we will start to see the social element of the web spill over onto how we search and find product and service information. Knowing the trends and staying ahead of the curve will become more important than ever.

Step 1) Know your customers

Always in the front section of any college level textbook, knowing who your customers are is often the most overlooked method to building a successful business. Have realistic goals of who you are and where your business is relevant, do not pitch a service to IBM if you have 5 customer service representatives.

Good design can’t fix broken business models.
Jeffrey Veen, Designing the Friendly Skies, 06-21-06

My process is simple and I believe the most effective, every year I reflect and go through my client list noting similarities and trends. Often the customers that I have show a pattern that relates to an industry or a referral source. Either way, it tells me what the business trend is and where to focus my attention.

Step 2) Be seen

As the social web develops and becomes more complex, we find ourselves lost in the tedium that is the “Facebook Wall”. The best way to be seen is to be controversial and start a yelling match that people get heated, however this tactic isn’t great for business… By sharing relevant “inside the industry” information that your customer may not always see you will see a spike in the content being shared and read.

Take this a step further, why not be the information source for the news and write your own articles and blog posts about what you see going on in the industry? Do you think that people won’t read it? Think again, some of the most saught after and appreciated writers are independent industry analysts. These experts in their field are featured on CNN, Fox News and MSNBC almost everyday. Why not you?

Step 3) Build a list

What good is a shepherd without a flock? Develop your own voice and you will see the flood gates open. Use outlets like yahoo news and RSS readers to syndicate your blog posts into worldwide viewership. If you develop informative articles and site sources like a true reporter you will have a better response posting on one of the many free article databases.

Make sure that on your website you have a section that is easy to see where your reader can subscribe via email or social media to your next media release. Capturing this information will give you leverage when speaking with the media on your credibility.

Step 4) Enable a conversation

If you have hundreds of eyes on your content every time you post you’ll be able to activate that readership into having a conversation. This can be done on your website as comments, social media, or a channel like YouTube. Enabling a conversation is one of the best ways to drive your site to the top of an organic Google search because Google sees content like a discussion as new relevant content.

The goal besides an increase in readership and website traffic is to get your readership thinking. Make them think about ways that they can use your services to propel their own businesses and careers. Make them contribute ways that they have used your products in other ways that they weren’t intended for originally.

WD-40 did this recently when a fan of their product reveled to the company that he was using WD-40 to remove love bugs from his windshield. He found that it was one of the only ways to get the pesky bugs off and told the company how pleased he was. They responded by launching a full campaign on how to remove love bugs from your windshield using their product and sales soared.

As you have been reading you may have asked yourself, this isn’t a quick overnight trick that will boost your business into overdrive. It’s a time honored technique of sharing good information, creating a spark of conversation, harnessing the power of group-think and building a reputation based on honesty and trust.

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Social Media and Startup Businesses

by JoelGoldstein on September 27, 2011

Starting a new business is one of the most difficult and stressful times in a new entrepreneurs life. The very reason behind this is that the business growth depends upon the growth in sales and production. At startup, you strongly need to model advertising plans from a similar successful business. Similar to a startup, this is the case with online communities. If you have shifted your business online and you are intending to grow it globally or locally, you would strongly need to go through the advertising methods which have been adopted by web masters online. You can incorporate these methods to target the interests of online user community.

One of the fastest adopted ways is Internet marketing is through social media platforms. This method is sometimes mistakenly referred as viral marketing. There are various platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and Google+ which allow the user to create a free account and create online social circles. The social groups contain friends and relatives usually from real life social circles. These platforms provide the opportunity to chat with one another, share photos and statuses and discuss contents online with your social circles.

To promote your business through Facebook, you need a stunning fan page, which can attract the user’s attention and compel them to “like” your page. The more “likes” would result more free “sharing” advertisement. This method provided thru Facebook to promote a business is a free way to spread the word about your product or service.

Apart from this method, you are also provided with the paid services by Facebook as you can pay them for your advertisement placement and you also have to pay them according to per click rates. People who “like” your page are then added to the fan page list and can receive updates from your business page whenever there is a new posting. This not only informs the users about updates on your business page but also publishes the update on their wall. After making a Facebook business page, you should be sure to have tracking on your website to observe any increase in traffic from your Social Media channels.

Joel Goldstein is an acclaimed speaker and author of the best selling book “A Professional’s Guide to Social Media”. Mr. Goldstein’s company ( http://PeerMarketingGroup.com ) handles Search Engine Optimization and Social Media Marketing. You can hire Joel to put together a comprehensive online marketing plan or just to build your fan base on Facebook. To see how Joel Goldstein can help your business succeed contact Sanju@JoelGoldstein.com to request an appointment.

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