Guest: Michael Dowd - Outrider.com

Is the search engine world already changing? Just as Google establishes itself as the monster of search, will it now have to conquer a new frontier? There are two different worlds of search: the PC and the mobile search space. While they may have similarities, they are not exactly the same. Listen to the podcast as Michael educates us on what you need to know about search in the coming mobile revolution.

Different ads and different organic search results show up in your mobile browser when you search. Meaning you can search a term in mobile and the same term from a PC and get different results and different ads. Usually, mobile optimized websites show up first in organic results. Non-mobile optimized sites are not given as much weight in mobile search.

PPC or search marketing works much the same way on mobile search as it does on traditional search. Now is a golden time to get into mobile search marketing. You can get in early and establish a high quality score because click-through rates should be higher.

Go into mobile search marketing with your expectations tempered. Advantages now are efficiency and low cost, but there just aren’t as many searches as traditional search. So for the next couple of years you may spend more manpower on the campaigns. But when mobile search begins to get populated, you will have established yourself.

To get started with mobile search, begin with the traditional powerhouses, Google and Yahoo, then start experimenting with other search engines. Yahoo has really been the mobile search innovator between the two, especially with the Yahoo Go product. Yahoo Go is a widget for your mobile phone that serves as the gateway to the mobile Internet.

Just about every industry has a place in mobile search. No-brainers are automotive, fast-food chains, malls, grocery stores, anything with a store locater. Use mobile marketing to provide coupons and widgets to your customers.

On this episode of Power to the Small Business, we welcome Holly Kolman. Holly is passionate about the coming mobile revolution. She tracks it, writes about it, and advises on it on her blog: Mobienthusiast. Are you prepared for the coming mobile revolution? You should prepare because it gets closer with each passing month and each new iPhone sold. The good news is you can prepare rather easily and Holly's going to tell us how.

What you are getting in this episode is short, concise, and yet so important to reaching your customers in the future. There are very few opportunities to be the first in the game, this is one of those opportunities. The opportunity is called the mobile web.

The Mobile Web vs. The Desktop Web: More than 270 million smart phones will be sold worldwide next year. Smart phones are those web-enabled mobile phones like the iPhone, Blackberry, and Moto Q. As the use of smart phones rise, so will the use of the mobile web. That's a great opportunity for the small business, but it's also a challenge.

Websites display differently on mobile devices than they do on your desktop or laptop screen. The desktop web is a long, graphic-rich, application intensive experience. That won't work on a mobile device because that website will take forever to load. And it will look like a jumbled mess on the mobile screen when it does load. But what to do? Holly thinks you should develop a mobile website as a companion to your existing site.

Holly Kolman shares with us some basic tips on mobile web design. Learn what you need to be doing right now to prepare for the mobile revolution.

On this episode of Power to the Small Business, we welcome Jim Morris. Jim creates compelling, evocative advertising. He also writes a weekly column for the Advertising for Peanuts blog. His specialty is creating taglines. His most famous tagline is for Flintstones Children's Vitamins: We Are Flintstones Kids, Ten Million Strong . . . And Growing. Jim has created taglines for both large and small companies.

I asked Jim about the importance of having a tagline. He believes that a good tagline is the single-most powerful, condensed, compact expression of your brand that you can have. Taglines are show their value when you need to get your brand in front of people and connect with them in little space and time. The tagline is the first articulation of your brand.

However, taglines are not explanations and they shouldn't tell a long story. It needs to encapsulate the feeling you want people to have about you. For that reason, you should take great care in creating one. The key is having a clear sense of what your brand is.

Listen to the podcast to hear the do's and don'ts of tagline creation. Then go to the blog to see more show notes and comment on the episode: TheMarketingSpot.blogspot.com

One of the most pervasive, misused marketing techniques is building artificial communities. That's because many online businesses fancy themselves the next Facebook, Twitter, or the early years of AOL. What results is a steady stream of friend requests to a constant deluge of new web communities. It's really impossible to keep up. And it's not very effective.

The new wave of community builders doesn't really understand what building a community is all about. Marketers don't help by presenting community as the magic marketing tool. But good news; we found two local business owners that have built successful communities. These communities are not about friend requests, they're about enhancing the customer experience.

On Episode 13 of Power to the Small Business, we talk to two entrepreneurs who have built successful communities. Eric Brown is Founder of Urbane Apartments in Royal Oak, Michigan and he uses both online and offline elements to build a hip community of young adults in his eclectic brand of apartments. Gina Ford is owner of The Grape Wine Bistro in Waco, Texas and has built her community the old-fashioned way: through customer involvement and without the internet.

Howard Schultz rode in on his white horse in January to reclaim his throne as CEO of Starbucks. It wasn't just the media anointing Schultz, Howard put himself front and center and promised to return Starbucks to its glory. In his first Transformation Agenda Communication, Schultz listed as one of his priorities:

"Re-igniting our emotional attachment with our customers by restoring the connection our customers have with you, our coffee, our brand, and our stores."

The fact that Schultz called his communication a "Transformation Agenda" hinted of big things to come. Naturally, most people expected a transformation, including me. We are now four months into the transformation and it is difficult to see the re-ignition of emotional attachment that Schultz promised. Granted, Schultz didn't promise immediate results. Instead, he said it was a 12-18 month timetable. But exactly where is Stabucks positioned on Howard's transformation time line?

Becky Carroll of Customers Rock! and I have teamed up to reExperience Starbucks and blog about the transformation. Becky joins us for episode 12 of Power to the Small Business to discuss the Starbucks transformation status.

Dan Roam, Author of The Back of the Napkin

How much would you pay to become creative and innovative? You may only need to pay $16.47. That's the Amazon price of Dan Roam's new book: The Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures. Roam contends that any problem can be solved with what he calls "visual thinking," a simple system of drawing.

Don't like your drawing ability? That's ok, because Roam says it's not artistic ability that matters. It's time to open your mind to new possibilities and opportunities with visual thinking.

Episode #10 - Power to the Small Business

This is first of a special, two-part series on getting publicity for your small business. Part 2 will be a blog article posted this Tuesday, April 29th on themarketingspot.blogspot.com

Have you ever seen a story in the newspaper or a TV news segment featuring a local business and wonder, "How did they do that?" It's not as difficult as you think, you just have to know the code. On this episode we feature two people who have captured the publicity most businesses crave, but can't seem to get.

Bob Bly has been called "America's Top Copywriter." He is author of The Copywriter's Handbook: A Step-By-Step Guide To Writing Copy That Sells. In this episode of the podcast, Bob shares the keys to writing direct mail that gets results.

HotSpots:
- What is direct response and direct mail?
- What’s the most effective format for direct mail?
- How to get response using direct mail.
- Writing effective copy for direct mail.
- What gets attention?

For show notes, see themarketingspot.blogspot.com

Amber Benedict of Hanapin Marketing and co-author of the PPC Hero blog says it's easy to get started with search marketing. All it takes is $5, fifteen minutes and Google Adwords. But that doesn't mean you should to it.

Like many of the shiny, new marketing tools, search marketing gets a lot of hype. But before you dive in, take 25 minutes to learn whether or not this hot marketing trend is right for your small business.

Ed Erickson Erickson of Erickson Market Research says that market research can be used to decide how you your market yourself. It can be key, he says in finding the differentiating factor.

But many small businesses think that research is a pipe dream, best left to the big boys. Surprise! It doesn't take a lot of money to conduct research. Market research is really about gaining customer intelligence. The best way to do that, says Erickson is through your customer.

Jay Ehret hosts this discussion on market research for small business. HotSpots in the podcast include: How small businesses can use market research, Discovering the benefits people will buy, How to ask your customers questions that gets feedback you can use, Creating a customer feedback mechanism to track what your customers think, The first steps to conducting market research.

What's he going to do? Former and current Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz rode in on his white horse last month to rescue the coffee giant. Howard plans to reanimate the company by getting back to the Starbucks experience of old, or maybe even better.

While Howard was the wizard behind the Starbucks success until 2000, these are desparate times. Starbucks stock dipped 42% last year.

Becky Carroll of the Customers Rock! blog joins Jay as they discuss the customer experience and their joint blog project to reExperience Starbucks

Most businesses live in Commodity Hell. Your products and services are quickly imitated by competitors large and small, and not just on a local level.

What are the keys to overcoming commoditization? Oren Harari says there are four and we discuss them in detail during the podcast. They are:
1. You need to continually reinvent what you do with customers.
2. Winners do strategy on the run.
3. Intangibles are more important than tangibles.
4. You need fun in your business, because people find it fun to create.

Enjoy the show and share your comments

Steven Van Yoder joins host Jay Ehret to talk about publicity, credibility, public relations and how your small business can get slightly famous.

Van Yoder is author of Get Slightly Famous: Become a Celebrity In Your Field and Attract More Business with Less Effort. It's a book about setting yourself up as an authority in your industry and getting free exposure for your small business.

The show covers:
1. Having a clear understanding of your target group.
2. How to maintain visibility.
3. Embracing credibility instead of advertising.
4. Obtaining a position as a thought leader.

Power to the Small Business Podcast with Jay Ehret. George Parker, author of MadScam: Kickass advertising without the Madison Avenue price tag is the guest. George shares his top four tips to get better results from your small business advertising.

Jay Ehret of The Marketing Spot hosts.

What you need to know about getting, or refreshing, your small business website. Larry Bailin, author of Mommy, Where do Customers Come From, joins Jay Ehret to dispense important do's and don'ts about small business websites.

John Moore of Brand Autopsy joins host Jay Ehret with tips on how to build a remarkable customer experience for your small business.