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Feb28
Google CFO George Reyes warns of slow growth
Gary Bourgeault February 28, 2006
Know More: Google, Marketing Realities 2.0, Google
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The Chief Financial Officer of Google George Reyes said that there could be a slowing of advertising revenue growth. Speaking at a Merrill Lynch investor conference in New York, Reyes said that Web search advertising, which accounts for 99% of Google sales, would no longer depend upon improving upon its ad business but upon entering into new markets and overall market growth.a

Reyes was quoted by CNBC financial television as saying “growth is slowing and now largely organic; the search monetization gains have now been largely realized."a

Eric Auchard writing for Reuters offers some insight into what that means when he says “Organic growth relies on factors such as overall Internet users or the number of Web search queries, instead of business efforts Google makes, such as modifying its pay-per-click ad system to place more ads on each page.”a

In response to the comments made by Reyes, Google shares dropped as much as 13 percent, which is more than $50, and finally recovered to being down $22 or about $368 on the Nasdaq.
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Posted at 2:18 PM | Permalink | Comments
Feb27
Can Barry Diller make a run at Google with Ask.com?
Gary Bourgeault February 27, 2006
When we do our searches on AskJeeves.com, we can no longer say that the butler did it.  As of Sunday evening, AskJeeves.com was officially christened Ask.com. Media mogul Barry Diller spoke to those who are expecting him to make... Continue Reading
Posted at 7:34 PM | Permalink | Comments
Online Direct Mail Marketing Tool
Gary Bourgeault February 27, 2006
Here is a site that some of you are going to love; it’s tailor made for certain campaigns. From sitting right at your computer you can create direct mail pieces that can be sent actual mailing lists, and without... Continue Reading
Posted at 5:27 PM | Permalink | Comments
Looking at Mobile Direct Marketing - Try Enpocket
Gary Bourgeault February 27, 2006
If you are at all considering marketing to the Mobile market you’ve got to take a look at Enpocket. Enpocket is a company that provides mobile marketing strategies to over 400 brands all over Asia , Europe and the They... Continue Reading
Posted at 1:47 PM | Permalink | Comments
Add Fun to your Online Marketing Strategy
Gary Bourgeault February 27, 2006
The Pew Internet and American Life Project put a report out recently that 30% of those who use the Internet go online “just for fun.”a It is interesting to note that just about six years ago the same group... Continue Reading
Posted at 1:02 PM | Permalink | Comments
Google AdWords Validity Tool
Gary Bourgeault February 27, 2006
Have you ever wondered if you should eliminate a lower performing ad for your AdWords campaign? a Verster which is a hosted set of Web-based site analyses and optimization tools offers a complimentary tool which will help you to... Continue Reading
Posted at 12:29 PM | Permalink | Comments
Feb26
Experts Gather to Discuss Best Practices for Small Businesses to Thrive
Gary Bourgeault February 26, 2006
Eastside Business reported on the upcoming Microsoft Small Business Summit. a "Microsoft Corp. recently announced that it will host its first-ever Small Business Summit , a free four-day, must-attend event for small-business owners and decision-makers. Microsoft will detail its... Continue Reading
Posted at 11:32 PM | Permalink | Comments
4 Tips to Turn People into Repeat Visitors
Gary Bourgeault February 26, 2006
One of the major mistakes online marketers still make is to assume a visitor will bookmark their website because they like it. If you’re like me at all, I have found a number of great sites that I visited... Continue Reading
Posted at 7:37 PM | Permalink | Comments
Some retailers over-relying on Internet search, analyst says
Gary Bourgeault February 26, 2006
Internet retailers had a brief story on how many online retailers over-rely upon Internet search as a strategy.a  Aaron Kessler, senior research analyst for Piper Jaffray & Co. said that “Three years ago, Internet search was a good value... Continue Reading
Posted at 2:15 PM | Permalink | Comments
Yahoo is Number 1 Online News Site
Gary Bourgeault February 26, 2006
What a difference a year makes. Last year CNN was the top online news site, trailed by MSNBC. This year Yahoo has taken over that distinction, with the others taking up second and third respectively. AOL is now in... Continue Reading
Posted at 1:18 PM | Permalink | Comments
Hotels and some Internet Marketing Insights
Gary Bourgeault February 26, 2006
Hotel News Resource offered a synopsis of an online survey concerning “Hotel Internet Marketing and Distribution.”a It offers an “overview of the current attitudes about costs and benefits of online distribution from a unit level perspective in the hotel... Continue Reading
Posted at 12:47 AM | Permalink | Comments
Feb25
Two Ways to Explode your Local Online Marketing
Gary Bourgeault February 25, 2006
These steps take a very short time and are completely free.a Get yourself listed with Google and Yahoo locala Until not too long ago search engines and directories were focused on providing national, international or global results in the searches.... Continue Reading
Posted at 10:07 PM | Permalink | Comments
Feb24
Next Online Wave – Think Locally – The Real Value of PPC
Gary Bourgeault February 24, 2006
One of the great, relatively unknown secrets of successfully marketing to a local market is the strength of pay per click (PPC) advertising within this niche.  a I am not a great advocate of obsessing on search engine optimization,... Continue Reading
Posted at 4:26 PM | Permalink | Comments
Next Online Wave – Think Locally - Part Two
Gary Bourgeault February 24, 2006
Some of you out there may be thinking that because your business is web based completely, that thinking locally wouldn’t apply to your specific niche. You couldn’t be more wrong.  a To begin with, what if your business is... Continue Reading
Posted at 3:53 PM | Permalink | Comments
Next Online Wave – Think Locally!
Gary Bourgeault February 24, 2006
Most researchers are beginning to believe that the next move of the Internet will to toward local marketing. Here is the key that I’m going to talk about some: more and more people are going to the Internet to... Continue Reading
Posted at 3:02 PM | Permalink | Comments
US attacks China's slow progress on intellectual property rights
Gary Bourgeault February 24, 2006
As elections approach we are going to see more and more political posturing as the trade deficit continually expands, especially with China. a One trade official said this: a  “China is moving too slowly on enforcing intellectual property rights... Continue Reading
Posted at 2:24 PM | Permalink | Comments
No Decision in Blackberry Case
Gary Bourgeault February 24, 2006
Richmond, Virginia was the setting for the long-running dispute between Research in Motion (RIM) and NTP. a U.S. Judge James R. Spencer pushed for them both to settle the dispute. He commented that he was astonished that they hadn’t... Continue Reading
Posted at 2:09 PM | Permalink | Comments
Feb23
Technorati goes up Against Google – Lessons Learned
Gary Bourgeault February 23, 2006
With the major competition from the huge companies getting under way, Sifry decided that it was the technology plus a competitive secret that he knew that would be the way to battle the behemoths. a He knew that simply... Continue Reading
Posted at 8:35 PM | Permalink | Comments
Technorati goes up Against Google
Gary Bourgeault February 23, 2006
David Sifry was having his moment; a moment that he had been waiting for since he founded the popular search engine Technorati had arrived. He knew that if his instincts were right and blogging was going to become as... Continue Reading
Posted at 7:55 PM | Permalink | Comments
Help for Affiliate and MLM Programs
Gary Bourgeault February 23, 2006
Garland Coulson, from "The E-Business Tutor" reported on a great tool that deals with the problems that come from promoting affiliate or MLM programs. Things like no way to follow up and having terrible landing pages and a complete... Continue Reading
Posted at 5:41 PM | Permalink | Comments
2 Indispensable Marketing Requirements
Gary Bourgeault February 23, 2006
A question that all managers and business owners must ask themselves is this: what is the purpose of my marketing plan. There should be one simple, easy to communicate plan that you have for you and your employees. Now... Continue Reading
Posted at 3:20 PM | Permalink | Comments
Feb22
Ask your way to Success
Gary Bourgeault February 22, 2006
The internet is one of the greatest tools you can have at your disposal to grow your business if you keep just a couple of things in mind. I’m going to try to say this as simple as I... Continue Reading
Posted at 9:41 PM | Permalink | Comments
Is your Online Business Geared to Teens? – Read This!
Gary Bourgeault February 22, 2006
Because teens are a growing, gargantuan market, over $150 billion dollars a year, we need to take notice of what it takes to reach them with your product or services. They are not the most loyal customers, but you... Continue Reading
Posted at 8:16 PM | Permalink | Comments
Design right or your Dead!
Gary Bourgeault February 22, 2006
I have talked off and on at this post concerning the proper way to design web sites for your visitors and potential customers.  a Here are a few reasons why consumers act as they do when they surf the... Continue Reading
Posted at 5:18 PM | Permalink | Comments
Your FAQ Page – Use it to Increase your Sales
Gary Bourgeault February 22, 2006
Many of us have a standard FAQ page but never think of ways that we can use it for more than giving out information.  a One thing you need to know is that the FAQ page is a very... Continue Reading
Posted at 4:36 PM | Permalink | Comments
The One Key thing to Internet Success
Gary Bourgeault February 22, 2006
While it is probably nothing new for you to hear about the reality that it costs up to five times as much to get a new customer as it does to market to an existing one; the internet has... Continue Reading
Posted at 2:14 PM | Permalink | Comments
Feb21
What is your USP? Sell it, Sell it, and Sell it!
Gary Bourgeault February 21, 2006
One of the things about knowing your chief competitors is that you have been, or should be building your business around what it is that you offer that is different and better than theirs. Otherwise why would you be... Continue Reading
Posted at 5:03 PM | Permalink | Comments
Avoid this as your only Sales Strategy
Gary Bourgeault February 21, 2006
One of the great temptations of all businesses, even the most seasoned, is when things start to slow down; the first thing that comes to mind is to start cutting prices. Therefore the only message they’re sending their customer... Continue Reading
Posted at 4:21 PM | Permalink | Comments
Ask and Ask for Their Business
Gary Bourgeault February 21, 2006
This is one of those basic mistakes that even people that have been in the business a long time have to watch that they don’t make. And that is not continually asking your customers for their business. If you... Continue Reading
Posted at 4:15 PM | Permalink | Comments
The Value of Customer Feedback
Gary Bourgeault February 21, 2006
One of the key to continuing success in any business is in knowing and understanding what your customers want. The challenge is in getting them to somehow communicate what that is. Of course the problem is that there are... Continue Reading
Posted at 3:54 PM | Permalink | Comments
Use more than one Marketing Outlet
Gary Bourgeault February 21, 2006
If you are selling through only one particular medium, you could be losing up to three times as many sales as those who use several. Even the big online companied like Google are realizing that they can’t be limiting... Continue Reading
Posted at 3:27 PM | Permalink | Comments
Feb20
Is Judge Ready to issue Injunction in BlackBerry Case?
Gary Bourgeault February 20, 2006
While we yawn at most cases that deal with patent infringement issues, the BlackBerry/ NTP case is livelier than the usual patent case.  a In the case of patent suits they are normally settled or dismissed far before they... Continue Reading
Posted at 6:32 PM | Permalink | Comments
Feb19
Inconsistent Sales? This is Probably the Reason
Gary Bourgeault February 19, 2006
A number of online marketers can have tremendously low sales and real cyclical swings in profits. a When I go through some of their sites, here is one thing that sticks out that may be the same problem for you. a... Continue Reading
Posted at 7:37 PM | Permalink | Comments
Strategies to get Repeat Visitors
Gary Bourgeault February 19, 2006
Here is something that a lot of online businesses don’t think of enough, and that is the value of the repeat visitor to their site as one of the best traffic generators there are. One of the basic things to... Continue Reading
Posted at 6:57 PM | Permalink | Comments
Feb18
Publish and do this – you’ll Crush the Competition
Gary Bourgeault February 18, 2006
Now here is where the tire meets the pavement in regard to online success. We’ve been talking about publishing and how it’s not that difficult to do, but extremely important. Here is the other piece of the puzzle that... Continue Reading
Posted at 10:23 PM | Permalink | Comments
The Easy Way to Publishing Success
Gary Bourgeault February 18, 2006
In the online world there is a plethora of publishing avenues that one can take, and usually you need a few. There are EBooks, websites, content, forums, ad copy, blogs, ezines among the many paths you can take to go... Continue Reading
Posted at 9:45 PM | Permalink | Comments
The Real Secret Behind the Online Pros
Gary Bourgeault February 18, 2006
It’s really interesting when I watch all of the senseless hype about online businesses and what is promoted as that which will give you success. Now I know that many of you simply don’t know what to do to make... Continue Reading
Posted at 9:00 PM | Permalink | Comments
You Must have this for Online Success
Gary Bourgeault February 18, 2006
One of the great mistakes of those hoping to make a good living with an online business is to go the easy route of offering someone else’s product or service. Now this is great for add on sales and... Continue Reading
Posted at 1:08 PM | Permalink | Comments
A Major Mistake Many Still Make
Gary Bourgeault February 18, 2006
I am still sometimes confounded by this simple mistake that a lot of people still make that are attempting to build an online business. The two things that are essential to even begin are sometimes not even paid attention... Continue Reading
Posted at 12:43 PM | Permalink | Comments
Feb17
Don’t use this Pricing Technique
Gary Bourgeault February 17, 2006
Sometimes I find that even some decent marketers that give some good advice come up with some bad ideas. Here’s a terrible one when it comes to how to find pricing points for your products. a If you’ve been encouraged... Continue Reading
Posted at 5:23 PM | Permalink | Comments
Pricing and Your Marketing Strategy
Gary Bourgeault February 17, 2006
Does anybody believe that you can just put together a product, create a little ad copy and then put it online and market it like crazy and think that it will bring you success?  Shockingly enough that is the... Continue Reading
Posted at 4:45 PM | Permalink | Comments
Tips on how to Write Better Ad Copy
Gary Bourgeault February 17, 2006
  Just a quick reminder from the last post concerning how to look at the ad copy you are saving. Don’t think that because it is published on a website or any other type of media, that it is working.... Continue Reading
Posted at 3:57 PM | Permalink | Comments
How to become an Ad Copy Junkie
Gary Bourgeault February 17, 2006
One of the things that seem to have become a lost art is the collection of copy from the many various media outlets that you encounter. It wasn’t too many years ago when this was the way to do... Continue Reading
Posted at 3:29 PM | Permalink | Comments
Your Information Product Model for Success
Gary Bourgeault February 17, 2006
When considering the best way to test your products and not waste too much time on those that aren’t going to be worth your while, let’s look at how the normal model for creating information products contrasts with the... Continue Reading
Posted at 2:50 PM | Permalink | Comments
How to use Failure for Success
Gary Bourgeault February 17, 2006
This subject of how to fail applies to all businesses, but in the case of an online business, it is especially appropriate.  Whether it is an information product or some type of widget, there is a way to do things... Continue Reading
Posted at 1:51 PM | Permalink | Comments
Feb16
You can Beat Google’s Algorithm
Gary Bourgeault February 16, 2006
I almost hesitated to write this article because I know how many of your think. You’ve heard and read - what is mostly stuff that will waste your time - on how to beat the search engines. But in the... Continue Reading
Posted at 4:00 PM | Permalink | Comments
Feb15
Two More Success Tips for AdWords
Gary Bourgeault February 15, 2006
As with any advertising campaign preparation is the key. Here I’ll give you a couple of more things you can do to enhance you success with Adwords.a Two more tips on keywords:a “Create your own focus group”a Here is... Continue Reading
Posted at 4:38 PM | Permalink | Comments
Profit from Google Adwords
Gary Bourgeault February 15, 2006
I want to talk a little today about PPC Advertising. Whatever you do, don't believe all the nonsense that you can just get signed up on some 'Pay-Per-Click' search engine, set up a few keywords and ads, and then you... Continue Reading
Posted at 3:52 PM | Permalink | Comments
Feb14
U.S. Tech Giants Questioned Over China's Internet – Part 3
Gary Bourgeault February 14, 2006
In this last installment now we find in some guy named Robert Dietz where most of this stuff is coming from. Who is he? A member of the Committee to Protect Journalists. Oh, that bunch. You know the ones... Continue Reading
Posted at 11:38 PM | Permalink | Comments
U.S. Tech Giants Questioned Over China's Internet – Part 2
Gary Bourgeault February 14, 2006
We continue our look at the attack upon U.S. Tech companies.a Rep. Christ Smith, evidently in hysterics, says that the four companies are “enabling dictatorship” by helping “manipulate” the Internet. Enabling dictatorship he says. Four companies that didn’t even... Continue Reading
Posted at 11:27 PM | Permalink | Comments
U.S. Tech Giants Questioned Over China's Internet – Part 1
Gary Bourgeault February 14, 2006
A mild backlash is settling in against tech giants Microsoft Corp., Yahoo Inc., Cisco Systems Inc. and Google Inc. for allegedly aiding the Chinese in rooting out political dissidents.a I say mild because there are a few that are... Continue Reading
Posted at 11:05 PM | Permalink | Comments
Crucial Web Design Tip
Gary Bourgeault February 14, 2006
In my continuous crusade to persuade all of you to consider strongly how you either design your website or have it designed for you, I found another ally in Alun John at the Marketing Tom blog. He points out... Continue Reading
Posted at 3:09 PM | Permalink | Comments
Feb13
Three things that Guarantee Great Headlines
Gary Bourgeault February 13, 2006
The greatest secret that all copywriters follow with a passion when talking about headlines is this: Make sure that you keep it simple! All you have to do is find the one major thought, promise, benefit that will convey... Continue Reading
Posted at 3:04 PM | Permalink | Comments
Headlines that Capture Attention
Gary Bourgeault February 13, 2006
When you think in terms of writing headlines, being brief is the core of success. While there are occasional exceptions, the great majority are.a The easiest way to know if you’re confused or perplexed when writing a headline, is... Continue Reading
Posted at 2:56 PM | Permalink | Comments
Feb12
Get People to pay you for their Testimonial!
Gary Bourgeault February 12, 2006
Now a while ago I experimented and found out that probably the best way to get people to give you a testimonial was to have them pay for it. That’s right, not only pay for it but give you... Continue Reading
Posted at 9:52 PM | Permalink | Comments
Strategies to Obtain Testimonials
Gary Bourgeault February 12, 2006
Now that you know you need testimonials, here are several ways to go about getting them. One of the most suggested ways to get testimonials is to offer it for free to a number of people in return for... Continue Reading
Posted at 8:59 PM | Permalink | Comments
Why you Need Testimonials
Gary Bourgeault February 12, 2006
Let me urge you right from the start concerning testimonials: they need to be real. Don’t make them up or lie about who is saying it or what they are saying. The worse thing to do is for people... Continue Reading
Posted at 8:27 PM | Permalink | Comments
Feb11
Another Web Design Tip You Must Know!
Gary Bourgeault February 11, 2006
An easy to understand call to action   a This goes along, in a certain way, with our last post where we talked about things being extremely easy to navigate on your site.  a   In a similar way the action... Continue Reading
Posted at 7:03 PM | Permalink | Comments
Website Navigation – What you must do!
Gary Bourgeault February 11, 2006
In regard to web design, here is another one of those areas that seem so obvious, yet many still make some serious mistakes concerning it. That is the area of having navigation that is consumer friendly and easy to... Continue Reading
Posted at 6:08 PM | Permalink | Comments
Web Design and Killer Headlines
Gary Bourgeault February 11, 2006
It does not matter what business you are in, you must build everything in the business around your USP. In my next topic keeping on the theme of website design and your success, we’ll look at the connection between... Continue Reading
Posted at 5:03 PM | Permalink | Comments
Put Your Web Design under a Microscope
Gary Bourgeault February 11, 2006
I remember the late Corey Rudl would always try to convince those looking to him for advice to not include all the things on a site that you think would attract customers. a Let's go over this subject of web... Continue Reading
Posted at 4:09 PM | Permalink | Comments
Feb10
Google Enters into Print Ad Service
Gary Bourgeault February 10, 2006
I have been continuously touting the need for businesses to branch out into several markets as a safety net and a vehicle for growth. Along with that I have been mentioning that promotion of your online business cannot be... Continue Reading
Posted at 6:14 PM | Permalink | Comments
Will New Startup Give Better Search Results?
Gary Bourgeault February 10, 2006
Even though there are search engines out there that give a fair result for our interests, still with the endless stream of new information being added to the net daily, it is still a daunting task for consumers to... Continue Reading
Posted at 11:02 AM | Permalink | Comments
Yahoo!, AOL Plan on Charging Bulk Email Senders
Gary Bourgeault February 10, 2006
In a controversial announcement Yahoo! and American Online are planning on charging bulk senders on some of their email delivery. Of course there was immediately uproar in some quarters. a Evidently what they see as the way to go... Continue Reading
Posted at 10:18 AM | Permalink | Comments
Feb 9
Yahoo - Experiment with its PPC Service
Gary Bourgeault February 9, 2006
The next PPC company we want to consider is Yahoo (previously Overture):  a As you probably know, Overture used to be the industry leader in PPC. Now it has been merged with the Yahoo name and refurbished and made... Continue Reading
Posted at 12:22 PM | Permalink | Comments
Some Google Adwords Changes
Gary Bourgeault February 9, 2006
I have talked before about how SEO is very overrated if used as a stand-alone technique for your business. It can even take away from your business if you obsess on it without developing other marketing strategies along side... Continue Reading
Posted at 11:45 AM | Permalink | Comments
The Hype-Free way to Drive Traffic to Your Site
Gary Bourgeault February 9, 2006
First I want to encourage you with a report from Forrester. Last year the internet grew by leaps and bounds. There were more than a billion people online last year, with over 250 billion searches done. The total of online... Continue Reading
Posted at 11:14 AM | Permalink | Comments
Feb 8
The Four Stages of Marketing Cycles
Gary Bourgeault February 8, 2006
Since the beginning of marketing, every time a new piece of technology or innovation comes along, we go through several stages that have been historically true no matter when it was. There are basically four stages that you can... Continue Reading
Posted at 10:07 PM | Permalink | Comments
Embracing Lifetime Customer Value
Gary Bourgeault February 8, 2006
One of the things I always try to convince the people and businesses I consult is that they must adopt a long-term way of thinking. As a matter of fact I don’t and won’t do any consulting to those... Continue Reading
Posted at 2:18 PM | Permalink | Comments
It’s the Consumers' Technology
Gary Bourgeault February 8, 2006
We have talked a lot lately about the numerous trends that are resulting from the continuing innovation in technology. It not only provides opportunities to increase our customer bases, but also challenges us on how to use it and on... Continue Reading
Posted at 1:32 PM | Permalink | Comments
Feb 7
Does your Web-site have a Point?
Gary Bourgeault February 7, 2006
In my constant quest to convince all of you to make sure that you understand completely and totally what your Unique Selling Proposition (USP) is, I will bring you others who see the same thing from different perspectives so... Continue Reading
Posted at 10:59 PM | Permalink | Comments
Google Accidentally Leaks Search Engine Secret – Part 2
Gary Bourgeault February 7, 2006
 While for those of us that have been in the Internet marketing business for a while, writing and submitting articles has always been known to be one of the best, legitimate means of generating more traffic, sales, and subscribers.  This... Continue Reading
Posted at 6:42 PM |