Takeaway up-front:
Effective internet marketing requires knowledge drawn from ALL of these fields! Please please get RSS feeds from each going to your Google Reader and just “graze” or browse from time to time.
Stick your toe in—the water’s fun!
Conversion Optimization: Bryan Eisenberg, author, speaker, internet marketing pioneer
Because many web designers come from a background in art, their goal can be the look of the website rather than its effectiveness (how many visitors take action while visiting).
While a gorgeous website does convey a sense of professionalism, it can cost a lot and even overshoot. After all, how many of us can differentiate between cyan and teal?
True internet marketing effectiveness is measured in “conversions,” or how many site viewers take the action the site owner intended. In other words, how many:
- Sign up for a newsletter;
- Fill out a “contact us” form;
- Call;
- Click to a product page;
- Make a purchase;
- Register for a webinar;
- Register for blog feed.
These actions depend upon more than a lovely interface. They depend on the value of the offer, the site navigation, the credibility of the owner and more.
Bryan Eisenberg, along with his brother, operates Bryan & Jeffrey Eisenberg & Associates. They are “professional speakers,” “best-selling authors” and “online marketing pioneers.”
While bragging runs rampant on the internet, in this case, the enthusiasm is warranted. Bryan Eisenberg has written three internet marketing books in the past decade, all of which have made the business book best-seller status on the charts of publications like The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times. In 1997, he also founded internet marketing company Future Now, Inc. in 1997, one of the very first of its kind.
In 2011, Eisenberg sold Future Now, Inc. to focus on public speaking and his boutique internet marketing practice. Full disclosure: I took Eisenberg’s Conversion Optimization course through Market Motive. Eisenberg was dedicated to delivering the most effective and actionable information per hour than any other internet marketing “expert” out there. If anyone “eats his own dog food,” it’s Eisenberg.
Free stuff from this Guru: www.grokdotcom.com
Google Analytics: Avinash Kaushik of Market Motive
Okay business owners, every blog post and landing page can and should be monitored through the magic of Google Analytics.
This FREE online interface lets website owners see how many unique visitors came to the site, where they came from, most popular pages, most effective keywords and so much more.
One long-time Intuit marketing techie loved Google Analytics so much after using it at work, he bailed from his job to become a Google’s Analytics Evangelist. Avinash Kaushik wrote two best-sellers: Web Analytics; An Hour A Day and Web Analytics 2.0 and went on to start Market Motive, the nation’s most respected internet marketing training platform. At Market Motive, Kaushik orchestrates and runs the Google Analytics master course and presents many free webinars for potential students.
The cool thing about Kaushik is that he encourages large and small business owners to be skeptical of hired “experts,” which he has acroynmed (disdain-intended), “HIPPOS” for “Highest Paid Person’s Opinion.”
One view of an Avinash Kaushik webinar will reveal the disdain he has for these self-styled experts who spin out opinions that haven’t been supported by data. With data so easily gained these days (through Google Analytics), there is no reason a business should rely on anything but what’s actually happening on their sites. To get started with Google Analytics, hit up the
Brilliant is so common in the internet world these days, that to hook that word to Kaushik that is no big deal. It’s his energy and enthusiasm that set him apart. He turns the most dull statistics and data into a romp. Watch one of his videos and you’ll find yourself reading his blog posts in his charming accent in your head.
Free stuff from this Guru:
Watch many of his videos free at www.marketmotive.com
Read his blog at www.kaushik.net/avinash/
Facebook Marketing: Mari Smith
Coauthor of Facebook Marketing: An Hour A Day and The Relationship Age, you might be surprised to find Mari Smith started out as a secretary. Now she speaks in the United States and overseas about social marketing strategy and has been slated along with Tony Robbins, Dr. Stephen R. Covey and more.
Even cooler, she gives away so much on her website, buying her book seems redundant and unnecessary. Here are some of her most recent extremely useful topics:
* How to Contact Facebook: 120 Forms (thanks for doing all the legwork, Mari!)
* Facebook 101 for Business: Your Complete Guide
* 21 Ways to Increase Your Facebook Fans
[Note: the awkward phrasing of the last title most likely stems from the fact that Mari is using search-engine-optimization tactics in her titles. In other words, many people are typing in “Increase Your Facebook Fans” rather than the more grammatically correct, “Increase You Facebook Fan Base.” I know; I know--snore. Indulge this former writer/English teacher!]
With 45,000 Facebook fans and 111,000 Twitter followers, she’s gotta be doing something right!
Free stuff-a-go-go from this Guru:
Website: www.marismith.com/
Of course, her Facebook page is one of the most tricked out you’re going to find: www.facebook.com/marismith
Search Engine Optimization: Rand Fishkin and the team at SEOMoz
There are many SEO experts out there that blog and Danny Sullivan almost became my #1 (such honesty!), but Rand Fishkin seems so determined to deliver so much on the www.seomoz.org/blog that I had to stick with this 33-year-old (!). His heart and mind are truly in sharing the best practices of search engine optimization.
Just some of his extensive credentials include founding SEOMoz, the largest provider of SEOSoftware out there, making BusinessWeek’s “30 Best Young Tech Entrepreneurs Under 30” and more.
I bet he’ll be going onto the next stage of tech supremacy soon: philanthropist.
Free Stuff from this Guru: www.seomoz.org/blog
Have a tried and true San Diego internet marketing specialist you’d like to recommend? Would you like to recommend a San Diego conversion optimization, Facebook, Google Analytics or search engine optimization expert? Feel free to do so in the comments below!
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