ShiftedPixels

Before the advent of the internet, it was much more difficult to find out what people were saying about you. Gossip from your mother or your friends were standard par for the course, juicy conversation could once upon a time be picked up by dual lines on the telephone. The internet has served to change all of this, you are no longer in speaking range to know who is talking about you and in what way. Community is now no longer limited to the people that you regularly see but can be created on entire online social networking groups through sites such as MySpace and Facebook, the people in your past and present lives can now be documented and tracked on a single website.

Most of the information about you will mostly be harmless and trivial but if there are people who wish you harm in cyberspace? Such as the case of teenager Megan Meier who tragically killed herself when her older neighbour posed as a teenage crush in a appalling hoax. Or there’s the website Dontdatehimgirl.com where angry lovers angrily name and shame their cheating lovers. It seems nearly impossible with the enormity of the web to track down everything that’s being said about you at the one time. It was documented that twice as many people have googled themselves this year then they had last year with only 4% of people finding uncomfortable or embarrassing news about themselves but most people generally googled themselves because they wanted to make sure their personal reputation was secure.

There is a website that helps to track the number of mentions to each individual that subscribes. Buzznumbers monitors each comment that is stated about you and monitors the frequency in which is mentioned, it tells you from at time and from which country the comment was logged. And while you can’t erase the smears or fix the insults, a lot of the mentions will frequently be used in a public medium such as a forum or a blog which will give the individual a point of reference for rebuttal . It also helps to provide context by linking back to the article in which it was stated. What good will it do though to find out if nasty things are being said about you? While initially hurtful, it can eventually be used as a catalyst for change and reconciliation, [example] However there is a good chance that not all the things being said about you on the internet are negative, there are be often positive reactions on the internet as well. Tracking mentions on the internet may not be an overwhelmingly negative experience.
There are frequently affirmative testimonials on the internet which go unnoticed if not actively searched for.

In summary, clickfind is more than just a directory. It also has some features of search engines and is optimised for SEO, reflecting the changing way people look for information and buy online. We think of it as an online marketing platform for Aussie businesses.

It’s a great place to list your business online to give it better search engine optimisiation, and it has the ability to list all your business services and products online, to double up your listings in search engines.

I would highly recommend adding your business to this directory, my only complaint is the fact that is it charging $19.95 even for websites which don’t use all the features, such as listing all products and services, perhaps a basic plan with a once off registration fee might be more appropriate.

Differences from other directories include:

• Most directories just have business contact info and a brief overview of each business. clickfind can display info on up to 500 products and services for each business. This means businesses can promote their offerings much more widely, and customers can find what they need without first having to know what sort of business provides it.
  
  
• A business owner can use their clickfind listing as their website if they want to. They can even have their own URL, email and Google maps listing
  
  
• Product and service listings can link through to any page on the businesses’ website. Most directories just provide one link to the website home page. clickfind listings can also act as a direct route through to BUY products/services, if listing details are linked to the businesses’ website via an affiliate scheme.
  
  
• clickfind verifies all listings to ensure the business has a valid ABN registration. This means clickfind results will always be from genuine Aussie businesses.
  
  
• Listings are optimised for SEO performance, so users searching on Google will often find clickfind results (sometimes listed above results from the businesses’ own website). clickfind considers the whole process, rather than building a self-contained world like Sensis does with Yellow Pages.
  
  
• Clickfind doesn’t carry advertising, or charge more to get results appearing at the top of the list. All results are based on relevance of keywords (and location/distance if specified). Most online directories serve less relevant nationwide results before more relevant local ones.
  
  
• Clickfind provides other useful tools, like the ability to check your website rankings, manage enquiries, create shortlists, and will be adding other features to assist businesses with online marketing.

You can see more info here:

Benefits for businesses, fees, sign-up:

http://www.clickfind.com.au/advertise-online.cfm

FAQs and resources: http://www.clickfind.com.au/help/index.cfm

About clickfind: http://www.clickfind.com.au/about-clickfind.cfm

Labels: Direct Marketing, seo

Labels: interestingness

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Labels: web hosting

"At Nestle we care alot about the quality of our products and the trust consumers place in us.

So looking after our brand is really really important.

 

But we need to be certain that we are getting the maximum return for our advertising spend, and thats why TV is a major component of our media mix.

 

Sure we use other media, but our brands wouldnt be household names without the power of Television."

 

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Labels: Business, consumer, customers

Intuit
Intuit uses a range of strategies including blogs and discussion boards, to tap its customers to solicit new ideas, prioritize features in development, and even test new advertising messages. To respond to customer questions about their Quickbooks product, Intuit created a community with discussion boards on their site so customers can help each other with questions. Intuit participates in these discussions to understand customer needs so they can respond with product enhancements faster. According to Business Week, this community now has over 100,000 members discussing topics across 50 subject areas. (BusinessWeek)

In the company's 2005 annual report, CEO Steve Bennett's letter to shareholders states "...positive word of mouth creates a durable advantage for Intuit that translates into sustained revenue and profit growth." (Annual Report)

Petco
Petco's e-commerce website features customer reviews for all the products they sell. Analysis of their web traffic revealed that users that sort the list of products by customer ratings spend 41% more than users who search with other methods like popularity or price. This consumer-driven content is impacting their outbound marketing initiatives as well. Emails that feature customer review content receive 50% higher clickthrough rates.  (WOMMA Presentation)

General Motors
Bob Lutz, the vice chairman of General Motors, actively engages GM customers on his GM FastLane Blog. He recognizes that by communicating candidly and directly to car enthusiasts, he can get "pure and unvarnished" comments on the frustrations, thoughts and suggestions of car buyers today. Mr. Lutz says, "These people have a great deal of influence, not just on what we read, but on the cars their friends and family purchase."