http://thenewsouthernstandard.com Growing Southern business using New Marketing, Digital Tools, and Social Media Thu, 16 Oct 2008 14:44:35 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Organizations (actually, the people inside the organizations) often complain about their website hindering sales. They don't like the look of it or there isn't enough information available for customers. Usually, there is a simple explanation - they've just heard someone complain about their website and now they are parroting back ... http://thenewsouthernstandard.com/were-not-making-sales-because-we-need-a-new-website Great point about declining marketing budgets: New Study Says Marketers Expected to Cut Budgets: Are You? http://thenewsouthernstandard.com/marketing-budgets-on-the-decline Here's an article about Mike Elgan, a blogger at Computerworld, trying to get an iPhone and getting denied. Here's the article: AT&T won't sell me an iPhone at any price There are some interesting lessons here: 1) Huge corporations make mistakes 2) A customer who wants to buy continues the buying process online 3) Mr. Elgan ... http://thenewsouthernstandard.com/lesson-from-att-about-online-behavior-and-a-fan I get excited about business. It really doesn't matter what it is, when someone starts talking about business, they get my full attention. I've learned over the years that this isn't the best behavior at cocktail parties, so I include other topics when I'm in public. However, discussing business really gets ... http://thenewsouthernstandard.com/marketing-as-an-afterthought Article on long content: The Difference a “Big Post” Makes http://thenewsouthernstandard.com/what-should-i-write-on-my-blog Once companies start to blog, they'll quickly become focused on SEO. Here's a great article for Wordpress blogs: WordPress SEO http://thenewsouthernstandard.com/optimizing-your-blog-for-seo Analysis: Mainstream Media vs. Blogosphere Bloggers: Big Media Is Watching http://thenewsouthernstandard.com/articlesmainstream-media-and-blogging Social Networking Will Go Mainstream http://thenewsouthernstandard.com/social-networking-link From IDC: IDC Finds More of the World's Population Connecting to the Internet in New Ways and Embracing Web 2.0 Activities Worldwide Spending on Internet Advertising Will Soar Past $106 Billion in 2011 http://thenewsouthernstandard.com/new-research-on-web20-and-ad-spending How does this increase sales? That is the question put forth by Scoble in a recent post. Jeremiah started the questioning in his post, but from a broader perspective. Read the comments for Scoble's post. They are worth the time. I'm also certain this topic was discussed last week at ... http://thenewsouthernstandard.com/making-money-in-social-media